My Own Railway Series Books
by ThomasZoey3000
Summary: RWS Books I wrote up. Following right after Book 42.
1. No 43 The Fat Controllers Winter Engines

_**The Fat Controller's Winter Engines**_

_**Based on the Original Volume 'Old Fashioned Steam' (2008)**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_Wintertime can be a harsh time of the year, especially when it comes to the engines of the Fat Controller's railway. James learns the hard way that a little snow storm, may very well be more trouble than he had originally thought. Edward does his best to clear the tracks and help BoCo after he gets caught in a snowdrift, then we visit Thomas' branch, where he's complaining more than ever about his snowplough. Then finally Oliver comes to the rescue of a diesel, but I mustn't reveal anymore or I'll spoil the stories._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-James & the Blizzard

-Calls for Snow

-Better Than Orginally Thought

-Hill Struggle

_**James & the Blizzard**_

The main line engines could feel the cold wind blow into their sheds early in the morning, the snow hadn't come yet, but it felt as cold as winter's frost.

"Where's the firelighter?" sniffed Gordon, "I'll freeze my wheels off if he doesn't show up."

"Be careful of what you say Gordon," said Henry, "remember what happened when Percy was complaining about the winter's frost? He came back with a queer scraf, remember?"

Gordon subsided into silence.

"Snow doesn't bother me," snorted James, "I could puff my way threw with no trouble at all."

"Thomas used to think that," said Edward, "but now he thinks otherwise."

"Thomas is just a little engine, a spendid red engine like myself would have no trouble when it comes to pushing my way threw the snow. Why, I bet I could puff threw a blizzard and still make it to the yards with no trouble."

The others groaned as they listened in to James' boasting.

At last, the firelighter came and lit their fires, James was the first to leave, the others were quite glad to see him go.

James' boastful attitude disappeared however, when he learned that he had to work with trucks.

"Bother," he snapped, "where are Donald and Douglas?"

"They're collecting trucks from Edward's branch line again," called his Driver, "just be thankful that we're not shunting well wagons."

James only snorted as he buffered up to his trucks and set off for the Other Railway.

"Bothersome trucks," he said crossly.

Soon the long train was moving faster and faster, but the faster they went, the colder the wind felt, as a huge blast of it went blowing into James' face.

"I'll be glad to get some cocoa after work," said the fireman.

"I wouldn't mind sitting by a warm fireplace, if you got an extra cup of that cocoa," chuckled the driver.

The fireman laughed, and thought up warm thoughts as James continued on.

It was dark by the time James had pulled into the yards of the Other Railway, he carefully shunted his trucks into a siding, then started puffing off to the station. When he got there, the stationmaster came out with an important job.

"There's a loaded train that needs to go back to yards of Knapford, can you take the train?"

"Of course we can," said James, who was looking forward to a good rest in the sheds, "we'll be more than glad to take the train."

The Driver and fireman agreed, then the stationmaster told them where to collect the trucks.

After they got the orders, James puffed off to collect the trucks, when another worker came out.

"There's a blizzard warning," he said, "you have to call that engine back!"

By then it was too late, James was coupled up to the trucks and he puffed away for the bridge to Sodor.

He was soon over the bridge, and puffing along on the main line. Signals showed green as he passed.

"What luck," he smiled, "we'll be home sooner than expected!"

As soon as he said that, the snow started to come down lightly, this was starting to worry the driver and fireman, but James thought this would be a perfect chance to show the other engines how strong he is aganist snow.

"There's no need to worry," he puffed, "snow is silly soft stuff, should it come on the tracks, then I'll push it away!"

"Not without a plow, you silly engine," said the Driver.

"I have a strong feeling that this is only the start of a blizzard," said the fireman worringly.

"You worry yourselves too much," sniffed James, "we'll be back at the yards in no time!"

Sadly, they weren't, by the time they passed by Wellsworth, the snow was falling harder than before and now, it was a full blown blizzard.

"It's so hard to see," grumbled James.

"We should probably stop, James!" called his Driver.

"We're going to can make it!" he huffed.

The signal up ahead however wasn't going to allow them to do that, as it was red. James had to stop by the platform, the Driver and fireman dropped the fire, then went to join the signalman in the singalbox for warmth.

They stayed over night, both the driver and the fireman were feeling toasty warm. When they came out next morning, they found that James was feeling cold all over. His face had turned blue from the cold, and snow had blown in his cab.

Once the snow was removed from the cab, the Driver and fireman lit a new fire, and James was able to continue his journey, thankfully Edward was out that morning, he had already cleared the tracks to the yards.

The yard manager wasn't cross with James for being late, he understood it couldn't be helped.

James was unusually quiet when he got to the sheds, much to the relief of the other engines.

"And he said that he could easily puff threw a snowstorm," snickered Gordon.

"Well James has proven one thing," laughed Henry, "that the snow is stronger than he is."

James groaned loudly to himself, he wished he hadn't heard that.

_**Calls for Snow**_

After the blizzard, the engines were told to wear their snowploughs, some complained loudly about wearing them, then there were others who didn't as they were focusing hard on doing their jobs.

Edward was hard at work, clearing the snow off the tracks.

"This snow's really thick this year," he said to his Driver.

"I can agree with you there, Edward," he said, "in that case, we better take it nice and easy, we don't want to have an accident, now do we?"

"Certainly not, with snow, trouble's just around the corner."

Soon the old engine arrived at the harbour, where Bill and Ben were slipping and sliding on the icey rails, they were having fun, but not their crews.

"That's enough!" called out Edward, "you two have work to do, this isn't the time to play!"

"We were only having fun Edward," said Bill.

"There's a time for fun, but now isn't that time. Besides that, the ice can be dangerous, one wrong slip could send you sliding off the rails."

"Like Thomas, when he slid into that snowbank?" giggled Ben.

"Or James getting stuck in that blizzard?" asked Bill.

Edward groaned to himself, "listen to me you two, if you don't take care, you might end up in a serious accident."

"Pah!" sniffed the twins.

By nightfall, it was starting to snow, but very lightly as BoCo waited for Bill and Ben to arrive with his train, his Driver was pacing back and forth in front of BoCo.

"Where could they be?" asked the Driver.

"They're probably taking care out there," said BoCo.

The Driver looked over to BoCo, "it's Bill and Ben you're talking about, you know those two."

BoCo said nothing more, for they could hear the twin's whistles blowing as they were coming into the harbour. When they did arrive, they were covered in heavy packed snow.

"We blew our whistles too loudly and started an avalanche," groaned Bill, freezing a little.

"Good thing we have warm boilers to keep us from freezing," added Ben.

Soon BoCo was coupled onto the train and was on his way to Wellsworth.

The journey however was a little tougher than BoCo originally thought, the snow was now starting to come down even harder, making it hard to see.

"We better slow down BoCo," called his Driver, "with poor visibility, we could run into trouble."

Sad to say, they were going to run into trouble. Some points ahead were frozen over, due to some troublemaking boys spilling water on them.

"This should give the engine's a little slip," said the leader of the boys.

They cleared out of the way as BoCo came threw and ran into a siding, filled with heavy packed snow.

"Oh," groaned the Driver, after the jolt, "what was that?"

BoCo had run into the heavy pack snow, it was as high as his buffers.

"Right, let's get going BoCo," called his Driver, he tried to move BoCo out of the way, but found that he couldn't, "what could be the matter now?"

The snow was so thick that it covered BoCo's wheels, now he couldn't move forward or back.

"What should we do?" asked BoCo.

"I'll go phone for help," said the Driver.

In a few minutes, the Driver came back, then Edward could be seen coming towards them with the breakdown train, BoCo's Driver had already placed an emergency light beside the lines.

"Don't worry BoCo, we'll have you out of there in no time!" called Edward.

First, the workmen did what they could to unfreeze the points, one of them had even caught the boys. Then Edward moved the cranes into place, as they lifted BoCo out of the drift, then Edward pulled him back a bit.

"Thank you my friend," said BoCo.

"No worries," smiled Edward, "I'm just glad to help. Now this should set a good example to Bill and Ben."

When Bill and Ben heard about BoCo's accident, they promised to be more careful on icey rails. Shortly afterwords, the Fat Controller decided that all sidings were to have extra snowbanks at the end of them to prevent runaways.

"Well BoCo," smiled Edward, "thanks to you, now we have a safer way to stop a runaway."

"Even though I found out the hard way," he said, "oh well, it is better to be safe than sorry."

Edward could only agree with him.

_**Better Than Originally Thought**_

As any engine on Thomas' branch line knows, Thomas the Tank Engine hates wearing his snowplough and will often complain about it.

"I don't know why I need that silly thing on my buffers," he grumbled, "I can manage just fine."

"Really?" asked Percy in a cheeky way, "what about the time you got stuck in the snowdrift and Terence had to pull you out?"

Thomas didn't say anything for a while.

"We all need the snowploughs to keep ourselves safe out on the rails," said Toby.

"That's easy for you to say Toby, you have your cowcathers. They work just as well as a snowplough, I bet they're not heavy."

"Maybe so, but..."

Before Toby could say anymore, Thomas had puffed on out of the sheds to collect Annie and Clarabel.

"I would like to have cowcatchers," Thomas said to his Driver.

"What did you say?" his Driver asked in surprise, "next thing you know, you'll be asking for sideplates like what Mavis and Toby have."

"Why would you want cowcatchers Thomas?" asked the fireman.

"Well why not? With cowcatchers on my front end, then I wouldn't need to wear that heavy old snowplough."

"I think the cold weather has gotten to you Thomas," said the Driver, "you can't have cowcatchers, not without having sideplates added on."

"Bother," he groaned, "I wonder if other engines have this problem."

Soon they were puffing along down the branch line. The cold wind blew across Thomas' funnel, which made him shiver.

"At least it's not a blizzard," he thought to himself, as he remembered what he heard about James.

He soon reached the station before Mrs. Kindley's cottage. While his passengers started to board the train, the Driver and fireman got out the snowplough and placed it on Thomas' buffer beams.

"You know I hate wearing this silly thing," he groaned.

"We know, but it's either this or you can explain to the Fat Controller why you don't want to work."

Thomas said no more, but he still grumbled under his breath.

Once out on the countryside, Thomas began to feel a little better. He didn't even notice his snowplough this time, he was enjoying himself.

"I guess snow isn't that bad," he puffed to himself.

Before long, he came upon the Kindley's cottage and there was Mrs. Kindley waving from the upstairs window again.

"I wonder if anything is wrong," said the fireman as they brought Thomas to a stop, "we better go see."

Thomas' Driver and fireman walked down the line to the cottage, they soon found the problem. They returned to Thomas and told him.

"That's what she was trying to tell us," sighed the Driver, "Daisy is just up ahead and by the looks of it, she's stuck in a huge snowpile. It'll probably take us a long time to dig her out."

"Couldn't we pull her out?" asked Thomas, "that would save alot of time."

"Good thinking Thomas!"

Thomas puffed on slowly to where Daisy was, but first there was matter of some snow to clear out of the way. Thomas pushed on with all his might, wheel turn by wheel turn until at last he had reached Daisy.

The Driver brought out a long chain and coupled the engines up.

With a shrill blast of his whistle, Thomas pulled and pulled. Daisy however was stuck fast, it took longer than Thomas thought, but at last she popped out of the snowpile like a cork out of a bottle.

"Thank...you...Thomas," shivered Daisy.

"Not a problem," he smiled, then he had another idea, "if we go back up the line, we can shunt Daisy to the back to the train and get both of our passengers to the end of the line."

"That's a spendid idea Thomas," smiled his Driver, "you sure are clever today."

The guards told all the passengers that they were going to back down the tracks for a little re-arrangment of the trains. Thomas was coupled to Daisy and pulled her along, then he carefully buffered up to Annie and Clarabel, then they set off back up the line.

Thomas carefully shunted Daisy to the back, behind Clarabel. Then he returned to the front of the train, and pulled the coaches and the diesel rail-car along smoothly.

Once they got back to the drifts, Thomas slowed down and attacked the drifts until they were finally through.

The train had arrived late to the station, but the passengers weren't cross for the delay, instead they thanked Thomas for getting them to the station on time.

"I guess you were right Driver," he said, "maybe this horrible old snowplough isn't as bad as I had thought. Maybe I don't need cowcatchers after all, this is just as useful."

Neither Thomas' Driver or fireman had told him that his snowplough was a new lightweight snowplough that had just arrived this morning. Still they decided not to say anything.

_**Hill Struggle**_

Work on the Little Western branch has been building for a long time, so the Fat Controller decided to bring in an extra helper for the line.

The engine was named Dan, he was a really small diesel and painted in dark green paint. Despite his size, the little diesel shunter was strong and could handle big loads.

"I used to do that all the time where I came from," he said, "although the trucks were much bigger."

"How big were they?" asked Oliver.

"They were big, big enough to tower over a small engine like myself. In fact they were like four of your ballast trucks all in one."

"That would save a lot of trips if we had those trucks," said Duck.

"Maybe so, but they were heavy trucks, it's better to stick with your trucks."

For some part of the branch line, the line runs along threw the flat countryside, until the engines reached a hill. The hill was the only real difficult part of the journey, as it was very steep.

In the winter, the hill can prove to be real troublesome, as ice would freeze itself on the rails. As a result, the engines will slip until they can't go on anymore and slide back to the bottom.

The soluation to the problem is for the engines to stop before the hill, then the fireman places some of the hot coals from the fire onto some parts of the hill. While the fireman is doing that, the Driver brings the engine slowly up the hill until they reached the top, then the fireman can rejoin the driver for the downhill journey.

Dan the small diesel was worried as he was shunting his trucks.

"If I have to take an extra load of ballast to the station, I might get stuck on the hill. Duck and Oliver have told me how tough it is to climb it."

"I'm sure we'll be okay Dan," said his Driver, "besides I'm sure that the line will be clear for us."

"I sure hope you are right."

Still this didn't make Dan feel better, he was worried what might happen. Since he was a diesel, he doesn't have a fire or a fireman.

"In the meantime, we're to do shunting duties," said his Driver, "I'm sure you'll get your chance to visit the big station in the spring."

Later that day, a snowstorm came. It howled across the line, making it difficult to see anything.

"We'll shunt the last of these trucks into the siding," said his Driver, "then we'll go back to the sheds."

Dan was liking that idea - just then, he heard someone's footsteps coming towards him. It was the stationmaster, he was having trouble seeing in the blizzard and thought the engine shunting was Oliver.

"You need to take this train of ballast to the big station, then stay at the big engine sheds until the storm has passed!"

"Ah...sure, no problem," said a worried Dan.

Dan rolled away with his loaded ballast trucks. The stationmaster heard Dan's diesel motor, he gasped.

"Come back!" he cried, "you'll never get to the big station in this storm."

Dan and his Driver heard nothing as the howling wind blew, so they rolled away.

The stationmaster went back to the platform where the 'real' Oliver was waiting.

"Dan's going off to the big station," said the stationmaster and explained how he mistakened Dan for Oliver.

"We better go see if we can help the little engine," said Oliver's driver.

Wasting no time and with a blast of his whistle, Oliver set off into the storm. He found it hard to see, but he was determined to make it to Dan.

"I sure hope he'll be okay," groaned Oliver, "I'm not sure if his little diesel motor will be able to handle that hill."

Oliver was sadly right. Dan by now had reached the hill - as he started to climb it, he found it difficult to climb, worst still, the trucks were eager for a little fun and were holding back.

"Silly little diesel can't pull us, HOLD BACK!" they cried.

"Come on!" groaned Dan, he struggled on for a while, before his Driver stopped him.

"We can't go on," he sighed, "unless you want to damage your engine."

Dan knew his driver was right, his worries had come to pass - that was until he heard the sound of an engine's whistle.

Oliver came up slowly and buffered to the back of the train.

Oliver's fireman then went in front of Dan, dropping some hot coals on the rails. Dan then pulled with all his might, while Oliver pushed, and before long, the two engines got the entire train up and over the hill and into the big station.

"Thank you for the help," said Dan after they were under the station roof, "I might have been stuck out there, had it not been for you."

"Oh well, that's what we engines do, we help each other out no matter what."

The snowstorm stayed for a while, so Oliver and Dan stayed at the big engine sheds and told stories till they went back to the branch line.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get over that hill alone someday," said Oliver, "I know you can do it."

Dan certainly hoped so too.

**The End!**


	2. No 44 The Famous Old Engine

_**The Famous Old Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_A special visitor has arrived on the Island of Sodor, he's proven to be very popular, mostly because of his design. Although there had been some minor problems with the famous visitor, everyone soon learned that the old engine is quite useful, like his modern day counterparts. When I came to the Island of Sodor, I heard all about the famous engine from Duck, Douglas and James. Duck even told me about how the visitor managed to show a visiting diesel and James that he too was just as useful and reliable as they were. Here's how that engine did it._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Quite the Surprise

-Quite the History

-Quite the Helper

-Quite the Hero

_**Quite the Surprise**_

It has been more than a few years since the engines of Sodor have seen a famous visitor. They always enjoy hearing about their old lines, hearing about daring brave engines and hearing how they were saved from their date with the scrap yards.

Stepney the Bluebell engine was suppose to come to Sodor, but that trip was cancelled at the last minute.

"Why isn't Stepney coming back?" asked James crossly, "it's been years since he's been here."

"You heard the Fat Controller," said his Driver, "he has other matters to deal with, he's busy with his railway's 50th anniversary, remember?"

"Which means another year of waiting," he grumbled.

"Personally," huffed Gordon, "I wouldn't mind seeing Flying Scotsman again, or finally meeting the new engine, ah...Tornado, as I've heard from the passengers."

Still, visiting engines or not, the engines of Sodor had to continue on with their work.

Douglas wasn't as work at the moment, he was in the works, having a new boiler fitted. He was feeling bored, except whenever he was talking with the works diesels.

During his stay, Douglas could see an engine parked a few spaces away from him. Now this engine looked very different from the other engines. He was small in size, he had a small tender, but he had a very tall funnel and big driving wheels.

Douglas decided to greet the engine, "Hello there," he called.

The engine looked over to him and smiled, "oh hello there," he smiled, "good to see a fellow steam engine."

"Same here, we dinna see tae many engines like yoo these days."

"That's true," the engine smiled, "I'm probably the only one of my class left."

"Donal' and I are the the same, as far as we knaw. Tell me, where did ya come from?"

"From an hertiage line, they operate me on a rare occasion. My manager wanted me to be restored at once, mostly cause of all the summer traffic coming up," he sighed deeply, "that however was not possible back home, cause our workshops were under construction, so I was brought here, mostly cause my manager has heard of the fine work done here."

Douglas chuckled quietly, "och aye, the yon wurkshops here are the best yet. Name's Douggie by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I'm the John Molson, but you can call me John for short."

The two engines talked for hours until the workmen had finished with the last bit of work on Douglas' new boiler.

"Well, time tae go, it was nice talkin' with you John."

"And it was nice talking with you Douglas, I hope I get to see you...and you twin soon."

"Och, I'm sure that yoo will," Douglas chuckled, as he steamed off to collect a goods train for the big station.

Once again, John Molson was left alone with only the works diesels to talk to.

"Oh well," he sighed, "I'll go back to sleep, maybe it'll help to pass the time."

And so, the little old engine closed his eyes and went happily to sleep.

That night, Douglas was telling the other engines all about John Molson and some of the things he was talking about.

"Sounds like a celebritiy to me," said Gordon grandily, "an engine that old and is still in surface, you don't see that very often these days..."

Gordon was quickly 'hushed' by the other engines, "watch what you are saying," said Henry crossly, "what if Edward were here?" Gordon went silent.

"From what you said, Douglas," said Duck, "he sounds like one of the many engines that once helped to open the lines of Britain."

"Mebee," Douglas agreed, "if that is true, then..."

"We happen to have a celebritiy on Sodor," said the other engines, all together.

"I wonder if the Fat Controller will allow him to see our line and stay for a while," said Oliver.

"I hope not!" said James, he didn't sound too impressed, "he would never be able to do the jobs like we would."

"Dinna say that, wee James," said Donald, cautiosuly, "the wee litta engine may surprise yoo."

"Or do we need to remind you of what happened when the water in your tender froze solid," said Gordon, "and you had to be saved by one of the works diesels."

James simply ignored him.

"I think he's only here for repairs," said Duck, "if he was to stay here, then the Fat Controller would have told us."

"I was going to tell you," said a well known voice. The engines looked to the door and saw the Fat Controller standing there, "I had agreed with John Molson's controller to give the engine a chance to see our Island, while he's here getting those repairs done to him. This was going to be a surprise to you all, but I guess the secret is out."

"Dae you really mean it sirr?" asked Douglas.

"Of course I do," he smiled, "now John Molson will be staying here in this shed with you engines in a few days," he paused for a second, "now, I don't want to hear any complaints and I don't want to hear anything aganist our visitor. Be sure to give a warm welcome and please, make him comfortable."

All the engines agreed to do so, all except for James, who said nothing at all.

_**Quite the History**_

The following morning, Duck was waiting by the Skarloey Railway for a place into the engine works. Whilst he waited, he spoke with Sir Handel and they talked about their lines for a long time.

While they waited, the same small old engine that Douglas met before, came out and rolled up on the other line beside Duck. He was waiting for a clear signal back to the big station. Sir Handel eyed the engine over, but not in a kind way.

"What kind of engine are you?" asked in a rude way, "you look like a museum-piece."

"I wouldn't talk like that if I were you," said another voice, it was Rheneas. He was coming into the sheds after taking the morning passenger trains, he looked over to the little engine and eying him over with interest.

"There's no need to be rude," he said firmly to Sir Handel, "he's one of the oldest engines to roll down the tracks."

"That I am," smiled the engine, "the name is John Molson, but my friends all call me John."

"It's nice to meet you John, I'm Rheneas and you've already met Sir Handel, and that's Duck beside you."

"It's an honor to meet an engine like yourself," smiled Duck, then he noticed, "where's your cab?"

John Molson smiled, "I don't have a cab," he said, "back in the olden days, we engines never came with cabs, they didn't start appearing until probably twenty years after I started work, but my original owner said I was fine without it."

"Skarloey and I were the same way," said Rheneas, "but after a while, we were given our official cabs."

"How many coaches or trucks can you pull?" asked Sir Handel, he was being too curious. Duck and Rheneas thought that he was being rude, but John Molson just smiled.

"I could pull as many as I was allowed to," he answered, "in the olden days, we didn't need to pull long heavy trains, not like nowadays."

"John," called Duck, "I was wondering, could you tell us a little bit about what the railroads were like in the olden days."

"I'd be glad to," smiled the old engine, and so he began, "many years back, the railroads were very different and so were the people. Granted, it wasn't as busy at first, steam engines were brand new to Britian and at first, we weren't the main attraction."

"Then what was?" asked Sir Handel, cutting in.

"Horses and carts," answered John Molson, "they were proven to be the more reliable services, until one of the olden engines, Rocket, I do believe, out raced a horse and cart and soon people came in to see us in action, and to ride with us."

"Did you have your own coaches?" asked Rheneas.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. They were lovely old dears, they never complained and never caused trouble."

"Not like ours," muttered Sir Handel, but very quietly as he didn't want anyone else to hear.

"Usually, we were allowed three to four coaches at a time. I only had three, but when business started to pick up, I was given a couple more for extra passengers. Each run was a grand run, except whenever we had train robbers come up and try to rob our passengers of their money."

John Molson paused and chuckled, "I can remember the one time when I scared a couple of robbers from stealing."

"What did you do?" asked the three engines together, "please tell us!"

"Very well..." he paused, took in a deep breath and continued to speak, "as I remember, the robbers were riding on a few horses, all of which were blocking the tracks. My Driver braked me to a stop, and the robbers ran towards the train."

" 'This is a stick up!' they shouted, 'and don't think about pulling any tricks on us!' "

"I couldn't just stand by and watch those men harm the passengers, I thought about what I could do...when it finally came to me..."

"What was it?" asked Sir Handel, cutting in again. He was quickly 'hushed' by the other two engines.

"Please continue," said Duck kindly.

And so the old engine did, "I remembered at that moment, that horses were not used to us engines, so I asked my driver to make me wheesh steam and blow my whistle, 'It should scare them off,' I said to him."

" 'It's worth a try,' said my Driver, and so he built up my steam preasure till I had enough. Then it let it all out and blew my whistle loud and loud."

" 'PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!' "

"Well that sure spooked the horses, they were scared so much that they ran all over the place and knocked their riders to the ground. They were soon arrested, the police heard my whistle and came out as soon as possible. Everyone told me that I had been a clever engine, and that they were proud of me, even my own controller said so."

"They were right," said Rheneas, "you certainly were a clever engine."

"And mighty brave to go up aganist robbers," said Duck.

"Ah, I'm sure other engines would have done the same in my situation," John Molson started to chuckle again, "to be honest with all of you, the other engines did start doing that whenever robbers came to stop them, those engines would say that I inspired them."

Rheneas and Duck were very impressed, as for Sir Handel, he didn't say any more rude remarks, even after John Molson left for the big station.

_**Quite the Helper**_

When John Molson arrived at the yards, he was given a great welcome from the other engines, especially from Gordon and Douglas. They all listened into some of his stories about the days gone by, all of them were impressed.

"It's lucky that James isn't here," said Henry to Edward, "otherwise he might say something terrible to upset our visitor. I just can't understand him."

"It's just a part of who he is," said Edward, "nothing you can really do about it."

"Quite right Edward," said Gordon, "it's better to leave James out of this, and enjoy the time we have with our famous visitor here."

Henry and Edward happily agreed with Gordon as they focused their attentions back over to John Molson.

James was out with a passenger train. There were so many passengers on the platform that James needed to collect two more coaches from the coach yards, but that had made him late, and now he was trying to make up for lost time.

"Must keep time, must keep time," he panted to himself.

"Steady yourself James," cried his Driver, "Easy does it."

But James was hurrying so much that he didn't hear a single word that his Driver said.

He knew that further ahead was Gordon's hill. It is the steepiest hill on the Island of Sodor and the most difficult to climb in normal weather. James knew that he had a challenge ahead of him, but he was determined.

"I'll make it to the top, I'll make it to the top," he panted to himself.

James would have made it to the top of the hill, had it not been for some troublesome boys. They were skipping school and wanted to have some fun.

They had some water balloons in their hands, and they thought it would be fun to throw them at the engines.

"Wait till the engine is in view," said one the boys.

"We won't have to wait too long," said another boy, "cause I hear a train coming now!"

The boys got their water balloons out and stood a short distance away from the tracks.

James in the meanwhile, was struggling to get his train to the top.

"Almost there, almost there," he puffed to himself.

Then, without warning, there came some loud splashing sounds. James looked to see some silly boys throwing water balloons all over his boiler and all over his red paint.

"Stop that!" he shouted.

"You're going to be in big trouble when we..." The Driver didn't finish. Cause one of the boys had thrown a balloon at his face. The water hurt his eyes so much that he fell back - into the regualtor.

James' speed picked up as he stormed towards the top, but not for long. James had used up so much water to get to the top, that he finally ran out and came to a hault.

At first, the train stayed where it was, then..."HELP!" cried James, "we're going backwards!"

"Not again!" shouted the fireman.

He went straight for the brake handle, quickly applying them, he managed to bring the train to the bottom of the hill. Then he went to see if the Driver was okay.

"I'm alright," he groaned, "that water just stings, that's all."

"At least you're okay, but what about the train?"

"We'll need help to get to the top. Phone the yards and see if they can send any engine."

The fireman did what he was told, he went to phone for help. Less than fifteen minutes later, John Molson came into view.

"You?" James was surprised, "You'll never be able to get me over the top."

"Maybe not alone," said the old engine, "but with the water tanker behind me, we can fill up your tender, then we can pull the train up together."

"It's worth a try," said James' fireman.

John Molson's crew used a special pump to fill up James' tender, while James' crew caught the troublemaking boys and asked the guard to keep an eye on them till they got to the next station.

Then when James' tender was filled with water, John Molson was backed onto James' front end and coupled up.

"Peep! Peep! Are you ready?" asked James.

"Peep! Peep! I was made ready for this," smiled John Molson.

It was tough going for a while, but at last, the train started to climb the hill. Twin columns of smoke poured from their funnels as they struggled onwards. Then, to James' surprise, he and John Molson had made it.

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" shouted the two engines together.

They rolled on down the hill and rolled into Edward's station a few minutes late. The passengers didn't mind, they thanked John Molson for coming.

As for the boys, they were handed over to their parents, who scolded them badly. As for James, he remained quiet on the way back to the sheds, he knew that he had to do some much needed thinking.

_**Quite the Hero**_

The Island of Sodor has seen it's unrulely visitors from the Other Railway over the yards and today's visitor was not going to be of any exception. This was a big dark blue painted diesel with eight wheel boggies on each end of it. The visitor had a snooby look upon it's face, especially when he saw the steam engines.

"Here we go," groaned Gordon.

"Steam relics," sniffed the big diesel, "why are you fools still running, I thought that the earlier 'prototypes' scrapped you off for good."

"Excuse me?" this was coming from Bear, "what did you just call us earlier diesels?"

"Prototypes, you aren't real engines, compared to me and my pals. We can pull over sixty trucks, while you can't pull ten coaches without your injector failing."

Bear growled in anger. Nobody had ever heard the big diesel growl so loudly ever.

The Visitor didn't care much about hurt feelings, and he certainly didn't care much about the steamers or diesels that were on this railway. When James got to see the visitor, he was quick to defend Bear's reputation, as well as his own.

"You have some nerve to say that we're useless, and even more nerves to call Bear a 'prototype'."

"Shut up!" snapped the diesel, "you disgust me by talking to me, you should have been scrapped years ago, same with your little diesel pals. It's called progress, your controller should really think about it."

James fumed with rage, but he couldn't say anymore to the visitor as he had a train to take.

"What a rude engine," said James, "I hope something happens to him."

That night in the engine sheds, the engines were all talking about the visitor, they were all grumbling about him.

"He's disgraceful," grumbled Gordon.

"He's dispicable," added Henry.

"He disgusts me with the way he acts," said James crossly.

"Dinna fesh yurself," said Douglas, "somehow, someway, that yon diesel will get whats comin' to him."

Only John Molson remained quiet for a while, "big fellows like this visiting diesel are bound to be troublesome," he said, "but I wouldn't worry about him."

"Why's that?" asked James, but John Molson didn't say anything.

The next morning, the big diesel was to be doubleheading a passenger train to the Other Railway, with Bear in front of him.

"Don't you break down, prototype," snickered the big diesel.

Bear growled crossly and rumbled away as soon as the guard's whistle was heard. Bear's spirits seemed to lift as they started their journey to the big station at the end of the line.

Soon they reached Gordon's hill, the two diesels rumbled up it slowly. All was going well, until they suddenly started slipping on the rails and the train came to a hault.

"What did you do?" snapped the visiting diesel.

"Me?" Bear was still cross, "it's properly your fault!"

The two drivers came out to see why they had stopped, but they couldn't see what the trouble was. Bear's Driver went to find a phone box, then he called the yards at Wellsworth for a little bit of help.

Soon enough, that help arrived with both James and John Molson.

"Steam relics saving us," grumbled the visiting diesel, "this is just not my day."

"Thank you for coming," called Bear, "you two are lifesavers."

John Molson and James responded with two blows of their whistles, then they buffered up to the coaches. When all was ready, the two diesels and the two steam engines pushed and pulled, until the entire passenger train was over the top and rolling down the other side of the hill.

When they reached the end of the line, the passengers came out to thank John Molson and James for coming to help, and told Bear that the incident wasn't his fault. When they saw the visiting diesel, they only gave him sour looks.

Once the steam engines were uncoupled, Bear and the visiting diesel continued on their way to the Other Railway.

"I don't think you'll need to worry about that diesel fellow," said John Molson, "he's been put in his place."

"Indeed," smiled James, "John, you were fantastic today and the other day, you really are a grand engine, I can see why you're famous."

John Molson chuckled, "there are more reasons then that, but I thank you greatly James. You know, you did pretty good yourself, that's something you should feel proud of."

"Thank you," smiled James.

In two days, it was time for John Molson to head off for home. Bear was to take him on a flatbed. The few engines at the yards came to wish him 'good luck'.

"Be sure to come back someday," James said to the famous engine, "then maybe I can teach you a few things."

John Molson laughed, "very well James, that's a promise."

Bear blew off his horn loud and long, which was followed by the loud sounds of whistles, other horns and cheering, then Bear pulled away with his important special. Everyone hopes to see him return soon, James especially.

Now, I bet you're wondering about the visiting diesel, well...the next time he came to Sodor, he certainly was quiet. Personally, I don't think he liked being safed by the older and wiser engines of Sodor.

**Author's Note:**

This story was slightly based off the original real life event where two engines stalled on the hill for reasons that are still unknown, and another engine had to come and push the train over the hill.


	3. No 45 Super Star Engines

_**Super Star Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_The Little Engines of Mr. Peter Sam's Narrow Gauge Railway have been seen in many films over the years. The Thin Controller had plans to have the older engines, Skarloey, Rheneas and Duke feature in the films, however, there were some occasions when Duncan and Peter Sam got featured. Somehow, I doubt that Sir Handel and Ivo Hugh are happy about this, nor will they happy to hear that I have written up stories about the other engines in their films, but considering they were acting, it serves them right._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Bad Timing

-Pride Comes Before the Fall

-Fireworks Are A Person's Worst Enemy

-Time in the Spotlight

_**Bad Timing**_

It was nearly autumn on the Island of Sodor, and the little engines of the Skarloey Railway were hard at work. Some took passengers, while others, like Sir Handel and Ivo Hugh, had to take goods trains. They weren't too pleased about that, and were not afraid to say so.

"Trucks," fumed Sir Handel, "why should we have to work with trucks?"

"We all have to do our part for the railway," said Peter Sam firmly, "it's not up to us of who gets which jobs we have to do."

"I wish I could," huffed Ivo Hugh, "I would do so much better with coaches."

"You're still on trail runs," said Rusty, "that's why the Thin Controller isn't allowing you to pull coaches. If you try pulling a train unprepared, then there could be some serious problems there."

"I doubt it," grunted Sir Handel.

Despite what the other engines were saying, both Sir Handel and Ivo Hugh were full of self importantance, and believed that they should be pulling passengers instead of trucks.

The next morning, both Sir Handel and Ivo Hugh were in the sheds, they had finished with their morning goods train and were now resting, when the yard foreman came up to see them.

"Not more goods work," groaned Sir Handel.

"I need one of you to take a passenger train," said the yard foreman, he paused as he looked at the two engines, "I think Sir Handel could do the job nicely, unless you've got other work to do."

"Not at all," smiled Sir Handel, this was his chance to get away from goods work, "I don't have anything to do at this time, I'll be happy to take the passengers."

"Very well then," said the yard foreman, "please go collect your coaches."

"Yes sir," Sir Handel called out to Ivo Hugh, "better luck next time!" He chuckled as he puffed away, Ivo Hugh didn't think that Sir Handel's joke was funny at all.

A little later, Ivo Hugh was working again, he was working with trucks.

"Bothersome trucks," he groaned, "I wish I could pull passenger trains, it's not my fault that I'm brand new."

"You heard Sir Handel," said his Driver firmly, "better luck next time, I'm sure the Thin Controller will give you a chance to pull a passenger train someday."

Ivo Hugh only grunted under his breath. He was cross and wasn't really paying attention to his work. He bumped his trucks into place, which made them go 'bump' into each other.

"Ow! Watch it you silly engine!" they cried.

Still, Ivo Hugh didn't listen to them. He was thinking about taking a passenger train.

Once his trucks were shunted into place, Ivo Hugh and his crew waited for the guard to blow his whistle. Sir Handel was also waiting for his guard to blow his whistle.

"Better to be working with coaches than trucks," he chuckled to himself, "poor new Hugh, I wish I could help him out."

"Just be careful," advised his Driver, "you've had plenty of accidents involving passenger trains."

Sir Handel knew this, but he didn't care a bit.

At last, the passengers were all on board on his train, now all that was left was for the guard to blow his whistle. That's when the trouble began - they heard a guard's whistle blow and thought it was their guard.

"Alright Sir Handel," said his Driver, "time to go!"

He opened the regulator and Sir Handel puffed away from the station.

What they didn't know, was that it was Ivo Hugh's guard, he lost track of time and was running to the train when he blew his whistle. Ivo Hugh heard the whistle and began to leave. The guard jumped into the van, unaware of the mistake he had caused.

As Ivo Hugh was pulling out onto the open line, he heard the sounds of another engine coming.

"That's odd," he thought, "there shouldn't be another engine coming."

His Driver looked out and gasped, "good glory," he cried, "it's Sir Handel! He's coming our way!"

It was indeed Sir Handel, he was puffing along with his passenger train, while his own guard ran along the platform, blowing his own whistle to attract the Driver's attention.

"What is going on here?" he asked, Sir Handel's Driver looked back and noticed their guard running.

"STOP!" cried the fireman, "or we're going to hit Ivo Hugh's train!"

The Driver looked and gasped. He jumped to the brakes, and screwed them hard on, but it was already too late. Sir Handel went bashing into Ivo Hugh's train with a dull thud.

The bump knocked some of Ivo Hugh's trucks off the rails, and Sir Handel was pushed slightly to his right, but thankfully there wasn't any damage done. The trucks were easily rerailed and so was Sir Handel, who went back to the station.

Ivo Hugh backed his train to the sidings and waited till Sir Handel left, then once Sir Handel had gone, Ivo Hugh set out on his way.

All the other engines soon heard about the accident, and at the sheds that night, that's all they were talking about.

"I was hoping for a smooth run," sulked Sir Handel, "I did not want to bump into the goods train."

"You deserved it," said Duncan cheekily, "maybe now you'll stop complaining."

Sir Handel only huffed, while Ivo Hugh sighed.

"Don't worry," said Peter Sam calmly, "I'm sure that you'll get to pull passengers someday."

"Someday," sighed Ivo Hugh, "maybe after I learn a few things about timing my train a little better."

"I think that's a good lesson indeed," smiled Duke, "when you're ready, I'm sure the Thin Controller will give you the chance that you've been waiting for."

"Yeah, but in the meantime, I'll keep waiting till that day comes."

_**Pride Comes Before the Fall**_

"A Docu-what?" Peter Sam asked.

The Thin Controller chuckled, "a documentary Peter Sam," he said, "some people want to make a film about the progress of our line from the early days to today."

Sir Handel smiled happily, "they're sure to film me."

"I don't think so," said Peter Sam firmly, "You weren't on this line in those days. They'll chose Skarloey and Rheneas to do the job."

"Quite right Peter Sam," said the Thin Contorller, then he looked over to the two engines, "the director of the documentary would like to see you two later this afternoon, he'll be waiting at the middle station."

"We'll be there," said the two engines happily.

"In the meantime," continued the Thin Controller, "I require one enigne to do both Skarloey and Rheneas' trains, as a mixed special."

"May I do the job sir?" Rusty asked.

"Sorry Rusty, but you are still on Track Maintence work with Mr. Hugh," he then turned his attention to Duncan, "you will take the mixed trains, you won't have to do it forever, but I expect you to take care with the trains."

"Yes sir," mumbled Duncan, but he wasn't happy.

"Fred will do your work," he added, "now, off you go!"

Duncan wasn't happy to be doing mixed trains, he thought the idea of pulling coaches and trucks was a bad idea. He complained bitterly about it, and although some of the other engines did their best to ignore him, he would often go for so long that enough was enough.

"I don't want to be pulling two trucks," he complained, "I prefer to do my jobs instead."

"You better be careful Duncan," advised Peter Sam, "or your pride isn't going to be the only thing that gets hurt if you rush."

"It's like the old saying goes," said Duke wisely, " 'Pride Comes Before the Fall', so you better take care."

"Pah!" snorted Duncan, and puffed angerily away from the sheds to collect another mixed train.

"We tried Granpuff," sighed Peter Sam unhappily.

"Oh well, Duncan is just going have to learn that lesson the hard way."

Duke was going to be right about that. One day, Duncan was taking another mixed train, he was feeling hot and bothered, he wanted to get this job over and done with.

"Faster! Faster!" he puffed.

"Slow down boy!" cautioned his Driver.

Duncan didn't respond, he just continued to battle his way down the line. Soon enough, he reached a steep hill, Duncan panted and snorted his way to the top of the hill.

"Careful!" called the fireman, "you're using too much steam!"

Before Duncan's Driver could respond, Duncan gave a huge jerk to his train and charged to the top. He never made it to the top though, he had used up all of his steam.

When Duncan came to a grinding hault, then he started sliding back down the hill at great speeds.

"HELP!" cried the passengers in his coaches.

For once, the trucks decided to help, they slipped their brakes on, and the guard did the same.

As they reached the bottom, Rheneas could be seen, he was talking to the crews about the steep hill ahead. His interview was cut off when Duncan went flying past.

"Bust my buffers," gapsed Rheneas.

Duncan's slide didn't last for long, thanks to the trucks and the guard, the mixed train came to a stop.

"See what happens when you rush?" his Driver asked angerily, "now you know why they say 'Pride Comes Before the Fall'."

Duncan said nothing at all, he was only thinking about what the Thin Controller would say once he found out. Rheneas went to change tracks and buffered up to the front of the train.

"Do your best to keep your brakes off," Rheneas called.

"We will," called Duncan's Driver, Duncan didn't say anything at all.

Rheneas had a hard job pulling the train and Duncan too, but with some much needed determination, Rheneas, Duncan and the long train finally got over the top of the hill and down the other side.

They soon reached the last station quicker than ever before. The passengers thanked Rheneas for coming, and the documentary director spoke to Rheneas about the rescue. Duncan remained quiet throughout that time.

When he came back to the sheds at the end of the day, the Thin Controller was waiting for him. What he said was short, but it was not sweet.

"I hope you've learned a lesson from all of this," he said firmly, "I know you don't like doing these kinds of jobs, but orders are orders."

"Yes sir, I understand."

"I hope you do," he said, "cause you're taking the mixed train tomorrow, and I don't want to hear about your sliding down the hill again."

"It won't happen, I promise."

"I hope you keep true to your promise," then the Thin Controller walked away.

That night, when Rheneas returned in a short while, he spoke to the other engines about his interview.

"It was nice to talk about the old days," he smiled, "although, I think the director got more than what he asked for at the hill."

"Why's that?" asked Ivo Hugh.

All eyes peered over to Duncan, who remained quiet.

"He did a shot of your runaway train," Rheneas said to Duncan, "so it looks like you'll be a part of the documentary too."

"What do you think of that?" grumbled Sir Handel, "I can't be in the documentary, but Duncan can! I hope you're happy with yourself!"

Duncan wasn't too happy about it, he wished now that he hadn't been so silly.

_**Fireworks Are A Person's Worst Enemy**_

A new shop was opening up in the hills, this one was made to house and make fireworks. It was a very dangerous job, for one wrong move could send the whole shop in flames. Rusty and Fred were usually assigned the job of bringing in the building materials to the site.

The work would have been completed by the time the documentary of Skarloey and Rheneas' past was too start, but there was a problem from the start. The manager of the new firework's factory, who was nicknamed 'Mr. Pyro' wanted the factory to be in operation while the construction work was going on.

As a result, the employees of the new shop had to be extra careful and so did the workmen.

Rusty and Fred were worried that all this rushing and carelessness of the shop's owner would cause a disaster.

"It's far too dangerous," Rusty was saying to the other little engines, "with all that gunpowder in there and workers making sure the shop doesn't cave in, Mr. Pyro is just asking for a disaster."

"Too true," agreed Fred, "which could happen at any time."

"Pah!" snorted Duncan, "I'm sure the shop is fine, so stop worrying your little old wheels off."

"Fireworks can be dangerous," said Skarloey, "when used properly, they can be fun to watch, but when they're not, the results are disasterous. There's an old saying Rheneas and I share."

"And what would that be?"

"Fireworks are a person's worst enemy."

Duncan didn't understand, so he said nothing back.

As time went on, the work on the new shop continued, and Mr. Pyro would hurry the engines and the workmen to finish the construction work. This gave the engines plenty of reasons to worry.

"Maybe we should slow down," said Rusty to Mr. Pyro, "if we don't..."

"Don't slow down!" Mr. Pyro barked at Rusty, "I want that shop open and fast!"

No matter how many times that Rusty, Fred or anyone else said that they should slow down the work, Mr. Pyro refused to listen to them and continued with his own work inside the shop.

As if that wasn't enough, during the night, Mr. Pyro would fire some fireworks into the sky just for fun. What he didn't know was that he was waking the people of the village up.

The people of the village called the police and complained multiple times, but the police didn't do anything to stop the firework's show. And so, the fireworks show continued every night, and Mr. Pyro got more and more careless.

Then one morning, even from the engine sheds, the little engines could hear a loud bang.

"What was that?" Duncan asked.

"Oh no," groaned Rusty, "that sounded like it was coming from the firework's factory!"

"We better go see," said Duncan's Driver.

Rusty wasn't going anywhere until his engine was turned on, only Skarloey and Duncan had steam in their boilers, so their Drivers opened their regulators and the two engines puffed off to see what was wrong.

When the two engines arrived, they could hardly believe their eyes. The entire shop was going up in flames, fireworks went everywhere, some in the air, and others were flying in directions that they shouldn't.

When the police and fire department arrived, they were greeted by angry yells from the villagers.

"We've telling you guys this for a long time, and it takes something like this to bring you here."

The police apologized for not checking earlier, then they went to speak with Mr. Pyro, who was upset over the damage being caused. The firemen wasted no time in trying to put the fire out, but they soon came out with terrible news.

"There's five trucks full of fireworks that haven't gone off yet! The flames are getting too close, we advice everyone to back off!"

"Wait!" cried Skarloey, "we'll go in and get them!"

Duncan was surprised, "are you crazy? Those flames will burn you to Cinders and Ashes!"

"We have to try," said Skarloey, "if we don't, then lots of people are going to get hurt!"

Skarloey's crew understood and agreed. So they backed Skarloey down the tracks, then Skarloey's fireman changed the points. Just as Skarloey puffed over to the shop, the documentary crew arrived.

"Get those cameras out, capture all of it!" said the director.

The cameras were turned on right away, while Skarloey puffed into the shop. It didn't take them long to find the five trucks full of fireworks. The vans were terrified, but not Skarloey.

Skarloey buffered up to them, then his Driver got down to couple them up. He could see the flames were getting closer and closer to them. He ran back into the cab and opened the reserver.

There was a small problem though, the brakes on the vans were still on, and Skarloey was spinning his wheels.

"I'll go get those brakes off!" cried Skarloey's fireman.

"Be careful!" cried the Driver.

The fireman went along the train and released all the brakes, then he ran back into the cab and with a few turns of the wheel, Skarloey was able to pull his dangerous cargo out of the shop. Just in the nick of time too, cause that one part of the shop went up in flames.

Skarloey was cheered to the echo by everyone, except for Duncan and Mr. Pyro, who were speechless.

The Thin Controller was indeed pleased with Skarloey's bravery, and told him that he could get a new coat of paint after his next interview. The director spoke with Skarloey that afternoon, they spoke about the daring rescue mission until the interview was over.

Mr. Pyro's shop was badly damaged, so it was shut down, which made everyone sigh in relief.

Mr. Pyro himself decided that fireworks were indeed dangerous and decided to go into cooking at resturants instead.

And as for Duncan, ever since that day, he now knew what Skarloey meant when he said "Fireworks Are a Person's Worst Enemy." He now knows all too well.

**Author's Note:**

The fireworks exploding out of control was based on the events of the real life Mr. Pyro who would fire the fireworks during the night and distrub everyone. Then one day, his collection of fireworks caught fire and blew his entire house away. Neighbours had complained to the police for weeks, but they didn't arrive till that time, where and when it happened is unknown.

_**Time in the Spotlight**_

When the filming of Skarloey and Rheneas' past was complete, the documentary film director decided that was time to film Duke.

"Why Duke?" Sir Handel asked, "he's not the only engine to come from our old line!"

"Maybe," said Peter Sam, "but he's worked more than either one of us, plus he's the only one of the three of us to look the same as he did when he used to work on the old line."

Sir Handel looked at Peter Sam, he knew that he was right.

"We've changed far too much," Peter Sam continued, "we're no longer Stuart and Falcon, plus we don't have our original colors."

"Even so, we did work with Duke to the ending days," but no matter what Sir Handel said, Duke was the main centre of attention with the camera crew.

The film crews took some shots of Duke when he pulled passenger trains, then they spoke with him about the way his old line used to operate. He did tell off the story of No. 2, then about Falcon's near accident on the cliffs, and out smarting Stuart. It was lucky for Peter Sam that Duke never once mentioned that Stuart had his name changed and is the very flat funneled engine on the railway.

One night, after Duke was done for the day, he backed into the sheds beside Peter Sam, who was being awfully quiet.

"Is something wrong youngster?"

"No, nothing's wrong Granpuff," he said quietly, "thanks for not mentioning that it was me that you..."

"Don't worry about it," Duke smiled, "that was a long time ago anyways. I think you've learned your lesson since that day."

Still, Duke could see that Peter Sam was still looking a little sad. It didn't take him long to understand why he was sad, "he probably wants to be in the film too, but he won't say anything, what a little engine, his grace would be proud."

The next morning, Duke was out with the first passenger train of the day, he was thinking about Peter Sam's expression from the night before, "if only there was a way that..." he then had an idea.

As luck would have it, the Thin Controller was standing at the far end of the platform. Duke called out to him, and he came running over.

"Is everything okay Duke?" he asked.

"Yes sir, I was just wondering if you could help me with something," he then explained about Peter Sam's expression from the night before, and his idea, "would that be okay?"

The Thin Controller poundered for a moment, "I don't know, but I'll see what we can do."

"Thank you sir," said Duke, and winked at the Thin Controller.

That evening, the Thin Controller came to the sheds to see Peter Sam, "I need you to go to the workshops tonight," he said, "You're needed in there for a special inspection."

"Yes sir," said Peter Sam quietly. Once he had enough steam, Peter Sam puffed off for the workshops.

Duke chuckled quietly to himself, then he quickly explained his plan to Skarloey and Rheneas, who smiled broadly back at him. Then the Thin Controller told Sir Handel to go for his inspection as well.

"Are you sure sir?" Sir Handel asked, "I just had an inspection."

"I'm sure, now please go."

And that's just what Sir Handel did.

"What is going on?" Duncan asked, but nobody knew, except for the older engines.

The next morning, the other little engines were awoken to a wonderful sight, there was Peter Sam and Sir Handel, but they looked a little different, they were painted back in their original colors, and their old names had been painted back on their boilers.

Duke was very impressed, but Ivo Hugh and Duncan were confused, "why are they painted in those colors?" asked Ivo Hugh.

"Is the railway going to mutiple colored like the Fat Controller's railway?" Duncan asked.

"Not at all," said the Thin Controller as he stepped down from Peter Sam's cab, "Sir Handel and Peter Sam have been painted back to their old paint styles because Duke wants them to join him in the documentary, as they are the last three engines from the old line to still be in surface."

Both engines looked at Duke with happy looks, "thank you," they said together, "for giving us a chance to be in the spotlight."

"You shouldn't thank me alone," Duke smiled, "you should be thanking the Thin Controller for making all this possible."

The two engines did indeed thank the Thin Controller, then the three set off together to collect the old coaches and Cora, and puff off to the middle station.

When they arrived, the director looked on in surprise, "what is all this?" he asked.

"Well sir," Duke began, "this is a special from the old line, with the few coaches that ran with us, our own guard's van, and even Stuart and Falcon too."

The director looked back and gasped, "Those are Peter Sam and Sir Handel!"

"They are indeed, they have been repainted and renamed for the film. If it's alright with you sir, I think they deserve a chance to be a part of this documentary."

The director looked at the train in a thoughtful manner, then he looked at Duke with a smile on his face, "I that is a good idea. What a clever engine you are!"

And that's just what they did, the engines were interviewed and filmed with their vintage trains, just like Duke. Peter Sam felt foolish when the subject of Duke paying him out for his trick was told, but he then spoke about the last years of the line, and before long, nobody was talking about the incident.

Sir Handel spoke about his near 'fall' off the cliff, and how Duke saved him.

Then after the day's filming was completed, the three engines did a triple header run with their train until they reached the yards. The director thanked the little engines and the Thin Controller for their help, and promised to send a copy of the film to them soon.

The Thin Controller promised Peter Sam and Sir Handel that they could be painted back in their red paint and renamed back tomorrow.

The two little engines felt pleased to hear that, but if you ask me, I think they were most pleased to be, 'super star engines', and it was all thanks to Duke the Legendary Engine.


	4. No 46 Little Western Engines

_**Little Western Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Freinds,

_The Little Western Branch line has been kept busy over the busy spring season lately, it took all that Duck, Oliver and Dan had to keep the work going. It wasn't only just the Little Western Engines that were kept busy, there was also some extra work being done on the roads. George the Steamroller makes his unwelcome return, and it takes one of the engines to teach him to keep his rollers off the tracks, although there was an incident that happened to George that probably will teach him a few things, but who really knows. Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy reading these stories about the engines of the Little Western._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Oliver and the Slippery Slide

-Dan's Trouble with George

-Knocking Some Sense Into Him

-Just Desserts

_**Oliver and the Slippery Slide**_

Spring had returned to the Island of Sodor, which meant that the Small Railway Engines had their work cut out for them, and so did Duck, Oliver and Dan. The three engines often had to take more than their usual amounts of ballast trucks down the Little Western and take them to the big station's yards.

Donald and Douglas often helped too, but they were needed at other places, so they couldn't always help.

Despite that, the three engines and their crews never once gave up, they kept on going.

There was one problem however, the constant rainstorms that came. Rain would pour down hard almost every day, as a result of it, the sand on the rails would be washed away.

One wet morning, Duck was backing his ballast trucks under the chute, he was going slowly. As he approached the buffers, he tried to stop, but thanks to the rainstorm washing the sand away, Duck found out that he couldn't.

"Help!" Duck cried.

"I'm trying!" cried his Driver.

Try as his Driver might, Duck continued on until his trucks went bashing into the buffers with a bang!

"Oof!" he groaned.

Mike and Oliver had seen everything and couldn't help themselves, but laugh.

"You need to be a little more careful Duck," called Mike, "the best engines _stay_ in control." Oliver agreed, and puffed away to the coaches, still laughing.

Duck just ignored the rude remarks, and waited patiently for the ballast to be loaded into his trucks.

Mike continued to tease him, "I guess you're not one of the best engines if you can't stay in control," he chuckled, "and here we thought you never made mistakes."

"Every engine makes mistake," said Duck firmly, "besides, I couldn't help that slide, it was because of the rain."

"So you say," Mike chuckled, "why, I bet Oliver could do better."

By this time, Duck's trucks were finally loaded up to the top with ballast and he had to go. He never once replied back to Mike, even with the little red engine teasing him.

"Slip and Slide, you want to watch your ride!" Mike called in a teasing way.

The next morning, it was raining again, and it was Oliver's turn on the ballast runs while Duck and Dan were to do the passenger runs. Oliver was still teasing Duck when Douglas arrived.

"What's this?" he asked, "why are ye teasin' Duck?"

"He can't stay in control," Oliver chuckled and told Douglas about Duck's slip yesterday.

Douglas didn't find that funny, "ye shouldna be teasin' Duck, ye knaw what they say, what goes around, comes around."

Oliver wasn't paying attention, he was too busy humming out what Mike said before, "slip and slide, you want to watch your ride."

With his trucks loaded, Oliver puffed away, but he puffed away too soon. He left five of his trucks behind.

"Hey!" cried one of the workemen, "you foolish engine, come back here!"

Oliver didn't listen, he was still humming out the silly saying.

"Dinna wurry," said Douglas, "I'll take yon trucks to the wee litta engine."

Douglas was soon coupled up to the trucks, then he pushed them along as he tried to catch up with Oliver. He hoped that he could catch up with Oliver and give him the trucks, before he had to go back to the chute.

What he didn't know was that Oliver had stopped at a signal before reaching the hill, and Oliver didn't know that Douglas was coming his way.

It wasn't long before Douglas caught up with Oliver, his Driver slammed on the brakes, but with the wet rails underneath him, Douglas couldn't stop in time.

"Look oot Oliver!" he cried.

"What?" Oliver cried.

Suddenly without warning, Oliver felt a huge bump from behind him. Oliver was pushing forward and past the signal before stopping.

"Sorry Oliver," Douglas called, "I dinna mean to run into ye like that."

"It's okay," Oliver called, "we're alright."

The trucks were soon coupled up to the tail end of Oliver's train, then the two engines went on their seperate ways. Oliver never once said that silly saying again throughout the rest of the day, he remained quiet.

Even Mike was quiet after a while when he had slipped along the line and nearly came derailed at the end of a siding.

At the end of the day, Oliver was collecting the last load of ballast from Mike, both engines were quiet, but someone else wasn't.

"The best engines _stay_ in control," it said, the voice was coming from Duck, of course.

_**Dan's Trouble with George**_

Roadwork was being down the road from the railway station, they were making the road wider than before, especially underneath Bulgy's bridge. They had already made the bridge taller and wider, so all that needed to be done was the road.

"You know what this means," groaned Oliver, who had recovered after his bump from the other day.

"George is back," groaned Duck.

"Who's George?" Dan asked.

Oliver and Duck looked over to the little diesel completely shocked, "you mean, you never heard about George the Steamroller?" Oliver asked.

"No, I haven't heard anything about him, what's he like?"

"He's a rotten old roller who hates railways," Oliver explained, "he's always saying 'railways are no good, turn them into roads'. He also loves causing trouble for us."

Duck then told Dan about what he did to Sir Handel during their childish argument, and what happened to Daisy when some cones were left at a railway crossing.

"Yikes," said Dan, "that George fellow sounds like a regular terror to me."

"He is," said Duck, "so take our advice and ignore him if you ever see him. If he tries to cause any trouble, then he'll have to deal with the Fat Controller, just like he has before."

"Personally," cut in Oliver, "if that George tries anything with me, I'll give him a reason to fear engines."

"Not a good idea Oliver," advised Duck firmly, "as I recall the last time you did that, you nearly got into trouble with the Fat Controller after you pulled S. in half."

Oliver knew Duck was right, but he also knew that Duck would probably do the same if George did anything to harm him, his crew, or his train.

"Don't worry you two," said Dan, "I'll take care out on the line."

"Good," the two engines said together.

The following next morning, Dan got his first meet with George. He stood nearby while the workmen placed tarmac on the roads. When George saw Dan rattle past, he chortled loudly, "oh that's all this stupid railway needs, another useless box on wheels."

Dan was offended by this, but he followed Duck and Oliver's advice and not reply back.

As he rattled by that area during the day, Dan would hear George say his infamous pharse, "Railways are no good, pull them up, turn them into roads" or "go find yourself a scrapyard!"

Try as he might, Dan was getting more and more fed up with George's rude remarks. The small railway engines, Donald, Douglas, Duck and Oliver reminded Dan to ignore George.

"I know," he grumbled, "but he's becoming such a pain to my little engine, not literally of course."

"I wouldn't worry about George that much," said Duck, "his work is nearly done anyways, which means that he'll be leaving soon. You won't have to deal with him again."

"Nae till he returns," said Donald, "like railroads, yonder roads require a lot wurk, which will maun George's return."

"Then teach him a lesson," shouted Mike.

"Och, we dinna need tae dae that," said Douglas, "sooner or later, George will get whats comin' tae him."

"Like always," agreed Duck.

Before long, Rex had shunted the last of the ballast trucks onto the chute. Then once his trucks were loaded up, Dan set off for the yards at the big station.

As he came closer to Bulgy's bridge, Dan could see that George was nowhere to be seen.

"At least I won't have to hear him speak rudely to us again," Dan thought happily to himself.

However, Dan was going to be quite wrong. As he approached a level crossing, just before reaching the main line, there came a loud shrill whistle. Dan looked and to his horror, there was George the Steamroller, he was blocking the crossing.

"Oh my gosh!" cried the Driver.

He pulled on the brake handle and tried to bring Dan's speed down a little, but it was good. Dan's heavy load was pushing along behind him, and pushing him towards George.

"Get off the crossing!" Dan cried.

Just when it seemed like a crash woud happen, George was finally able to move off the crossing.

As he left however, they had noticed that some tarmac was on the rails. Dan's Driver made a mad jump out of the cab, while his little diesel engine went crashing off the rails and into a field. Seven of his trucks followed along behind him and crashed into his back end.

"That's one less engine to worry about," George chuckled.

Dan heard that remark, and quickly put together what had happened. He was beyond cross at this point, "you stupid steam-roller," he shouted, "you put that tarmac on the tracks on purpose!"

"I did no such thing," said George, although he didn't sound convincing.

Donald was called to help clear up the mess, after the workmen had removed the tarmac off the tracks. As Dan was being lifted onto a flatbed, he could see George smirking.

"He caused that accident on purprose," he thought angerily to himself, "I sure hope he gets what is coming him."

Knowing George, it's only a matter of time till that happens.

_**Knocking Some Sense Into Him**_

Dan was soon repaired and allowed to go back to the Little Western, but he was very cross.

"Why that George!" Dan grunted through his teeth, "I swear he did that on purpose!"

"Are you sure it was George?" Duck asked.

"It had to have been George, only he would do something that reckless. After hearing about what he did to Sir Handel and Daisy, I'm now more than confienced that this was his own doing."

"I have to go with Dan on this one," said Oliver, "this kind of stunt has George's name written all over it."

"All I know is," added Dan, "is if I see that George again, I will give him a piece of my mind."

Duck looked to Dan with a serious look, "don't do that, it will get you into trouble with the Fat Controller. Just tell him about this, and he'll sort out the problem himself."

"Very well," Dan sighed unhappily.

Dan soon informed the Fat Controller about what George 'might' have done, according to what his Driver said.

"If George did have something to do with that accident, then he'll have me to answer to," the Fat Controller said firmly.

Back on the Little Western, Oliver was speaking with Duck, "I know you don't like to break the rules Duck," he was saying, "but why can't Dan try to teach that George a lesson he won't forget?"

"You remember what happened when you tried to teach S. a lesson, right?"

"Yes, I remember that, and as I recall, I got my point across to him."

"It might've worked," Oliver's Driver added, "but it did land you in trouble shortly afterwords."

"Actually," Duck agreed, "besides, I wouldn't worry if I were you, sooner or later, George will get caught in the act and the Fat Controller will have a little chat with him and his owner."

"Then we better hope that the Fat Controller catches George before Dan does," said Oliver quietly.

George was feeling quite pleased with himself, and often spoke about what he did to Bulgy, as if he was proud to what did.

"You should've seen the look on his face," George chuckled, "it was hilarious to look at."

"I wish I could've seen it," Bulgy chuckled, "at least there's someone who's trying to ruin the railways. Roads are a better way to travel anyways."

"Glad to see to see that we see 'eye-to-eye'."

Then George came up with a devillish idea, "I think I have an idea on how to make that 'Duck' cross," he chuckled, "I'll make him de-rail just like I did with that silly diesel."

"Try something different," Bulgy chuckled, "like, scaring him!"

"Yes," George laughed, "I will."

Later that day, Duck was puffing along through the countryside on his way to the Little Western with empty ballast trucks. As he puffed along, he kept thinking about what Dan and Oliver had been saying.

"Trying to get back at George isn't going to solve anything," he said to his Driver.

"Maybe so," said his Driver, "but at times, we have to take matters into our own hands, or in your case, in your buffers."

"Just like Bulgy," added the fireman.

"I guess so," said Duck, "and I guess I would understand if..."

It was then that they heard a loud whistle coming from the crossing. It was George again, and he had his roller right on the level crossing.

"Get off my tracks!" Duck cried.

The Driver blew the whistle loud and long, but George wouldn't move out of the way. George's Driver could see everything, and decided to make a jump to safety.

George didn't know this however, he thought that his idea was going to work.

"He'll look as white as a ghost when I roll back," George chuckled, "Driver, move me back!"

It was only then that George noticed that his Driver wasn't at the controls. To make matters worse, Duck was getting closer and closer towards the gruffy steamroller.

"STOP! STOP!" George cried, "TAKE ME BACK! TAKE ME BACK!"

There nothing anyone could do. Duck came closer and closer, and with a loud CRASH! Duck banged into George's roller and pushed him down the rails.

It was a short run from the crossing, but it was still a little bumpy. Then at last, Duck came a stop, while George bumped over the tracks and fell onto his side, near a farmer's field.

"Oh my," Duck gasped.

George's Driver then came over to see if his steamroller was okay. He looked over to Duck, then back at the steamroller, "You stupid piece of machinery!" he yelled to George, "I don't know why you always like making engine's lives a misery, one of these days, it'll be the end of you."

"Never!" George groaned, "roads will win and railways will..."

"Shut up!" Duck shouted, "railways will never disappear! If anything, I would to see you disappear!"

Duck's crew gasped, they had never heard Duck say something like this before.

"I hope this will knock some sense into you, and this time, quite literally."

Duck said no more and continued on his way to the chute. As he puffed along, he finally calmed down, only to have a worrying thought come into his head, "what will the Fat Controller say when he finds out about this?"

_**Just Desserts**_

The news of Duck's little 'bumping' with George at the crossing reached the yards long before he even got there.

"And you told us not to deal with George," said Oliver, "looks like you were right after all. Although I have to know, why didn't you tell us that you were going to take care of him?"

"I had no intension of teaching George a lesson," grumbled Duck, "I never meant to bump into him, he was blocking my line."

"Sounds like he was up to another horrible trick then," said Dan, "but thanks to you Duck, it backfired on him."

"I didn't mean to teach him a lesson!" he shouted.

"It's okay Duck," his Driver said in a soothing way, "it was an accident, we all know that."

"Yes, you and I know that, and so does everyone else in the yards, but once George and his Driver speak to the Fat Controller, I'm going to get into trouble. This is why I said we shouldn't try to teach George a lesson."

For the rest of the day, Duck continued to worry about what the Fat Controller would have to say to him. Would he listen to Duck's side of the story, or will the Fat Controller sent him away to work somewhere else as part of a punishment? Either way, this made Duck worry that he was going to get blamed for something he didn't do, again!

Then at last, at the end of the day's work, Duck saw the Fat Controller walk over to his shed.

"Oh no," he groaned, "here he comes."

Duck wanted to dash into the sheds and hide from the Fat Controller, but he knew that would only make the situation worse. The Fat Controller stopped in front of Duck, he looked serious.

Duck swallowed his pride and spoke first, "Sir, I would like to say that I am sorry for bumping into George and pushing him down the tracks like that, I never meant for something like that to happen."

The Fat Controller wasn't cross at all, he was smiling, "Duck," he said kindly, "I know this accident was not your fault. George's Driver told me the whole story, it was his steamroller that caused this mishap. He wanted to scare you, and he was the one who made Dan crash."

"I knew it," muttered the dark green diesel quietly.

"You and your crew did very well in trying to prevent that accident," the Fat Controller continued, "I'm very proud of you Duck."

"Thank you sir," then he asked, "but what about George, what happened to him?"

The Fat Controller began to chuckle, "Well Duck, old George got his just desserts just before I caught up with him."

"What happened?" Oliver asked curiously.

"Well..."

George had been working down the road, he was flattening tarmac to make it smooth, right after he had been lifted out of the field and put upright. He was very cross though, he was upset because his plan had backfired on him.

"That stupid steamer," he grumbled, "I'll get him back, just let him wait and see."

"Oh no you won't," said his Driver firmly, "you've already caused enough trouble for the railway. Which is no wonder why the Fat Controller would like to see us later."

"Pah!" George sniffed, "I won't go see him, he works with those stupid trains, and I don't talk to people who like them!"

"That's too bad then, we've been asked to go see him afterwords and that is just what we are going to do!"

George and his Driver continued to argue with each other as they continued with their work. They were so busy arguing, they didn't notice a creaking and groaning sound from the roller.

After the work was done, George's Driver drove him away from the tarmac and over to where the Fat Controller was waiting, he didn't look too happy to see George.

"I don't want to see him!" Geroge shouted.

"You're going to see him, and that's final!" shouted his Driver.

"No I..." Suddenly, without warning, there was a loud crack! And before anyone knew it, George's roller rolled away from him and towards the foreman's van. Everyone jumped out of the way, just in the nick of time, while the roller smashed the van to pieces. As for George, he crashed onto the ground and skidded along it for a few feet.

"OW!" he wailed feebly.

At last, he stopped moving, hissing in steam and unable to move. The Fat Controller walked over towards George, looks like he was going to have his little chat with George, like it or not.

"Was it because of me that his roller came off?" Duck asked nervously.

"Not at all," the Fat Controller answered, "it was actually because of George's rough treatment and some rusty bolts that caused the problem. Now, you don't need to worry yourself over George anymore, he won't be bothering you anymore."

"Why's that?" Oliver asked.

"He's gone to repaired, then I'm sending him to work at a steel mill. His flywheel will work for the generator."

"In other words," said Dan, "you took him out of service."

"In a sense, yes," chuckled the Fat Controller, "although it won't be forever, at least he'll stay out of trouble for now," just before he left, the Fat Controller added, "you three are doing a wonderful job with passengers and ballast traffic, I'm proud of you all."

Duck, Oliver and Dan thanked the Fat Controller for the kind words that were said. And that night, the three engines went to sleep with no worries about George troubling them for a long time, and tomorrow was going to be a normal day for the Little Western Engines.

**Author's Note:**

George's roller incident was inspired by a picture of a steam roller that had crashed after it's roller had come cracking off. When, why and where it happened is unknown.

**The End!**


	5. No 47 Kristy the Scrapyard Engine

_**Kristy the Scrapyard Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_During a visit to the workshops for an overhaul, Toby the Tram Engine met up with another engine that was being restored. This was a 1116A Class 0-4-0ST engine, and during his visit there, Toby learned alot from this little engine, all about her past and the work she used to do before and after the age of steam came to an end. I hope you'll enjoy hearing the stories of this scrapyard engine, and be prepared for a few unexpected surprises as the stories are told._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Kristy

-Aganist Steam

-Classic Collector

-Salvation

_**Kristy**_

Toby was in the workshops for an overhaul while Percy and Daisy did his jobs. During his visit there, Toby could see a little tank engine sitting on the line next to him, he had never seen her before. This engine was covered in lots of rust and it's funnel looked like someone had hit it with a football. It had an almost recentagular shaped boiler, four driving wheels and a small cab behind her.

"How long have you been here?" Toby asked in a kind way.

"Only a year," the little engine sighed, "they've been doing a lot of work on my broken boiler, but the rest of me has been sitting here like a piece of scrap for a long time. I'm Kristy by the way, Kristy the Scrapyard Engine."

"It's nice to meet you Kristy, I'm Toby - do you say that you are a scrapyard engine?"

"I did indeed, I was mostly used in scrap yards all the time - only to bring in break up broken up machines that have had it, I would never scrap any of my steam engine friends. I used to work in the scrapyards up to the end of the steam days, and that's when I really became a _real _scrap engine."

Toby shivered, like all the other steam engines, he doesn't like hearing that word mentioned.

"Sorry, I know it's not the best word to hear, but it's the honest truth."

"That's okay," Toby said as he calmed down, "tell me though, where did they find you?"

"They found in a huge pile of...ah, you know what. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was dark inside the old smelters shed, sparks showered from all over the place, and every now and then, I could hear pieces of scrap metal being crushed by a huge machine that wasn't too far from where I was. Broken up boilers of my old friends sat all around me, and I mean that as there were some on top of me too," Kristy paused as she looked up to her broken funnel, "that's why my funnel is broken."

"I see," Toby said quietly and Kristy continued.

"I was alone in that dark dirty old shed, I was still in one piece, sort of, but I had a feeling that I would never get the chance to run on the rails again, that was until I got a huge surprise..."

Toby chuckled, "let me guess, the Fat Controller found you in that pile of scrap, am I right?"

Kristy looked over to the tram engine with a surprised look, "yes, but how did you..."

"I just took a wild guess," Toby chuckled, "but it sounds like something the Fat Controller would do."

"I see," Kristy smiled warmily, "anyways, I remember hearing footsteps coming over to my pile of scrap iron. I thought for sure that this was going to be the end of me for good, that was until I heard...'Did you know there's a tank engine underneath all this scrap?'. The scrapyard manager walked over towards the pile and looked in as best as he could, he gasped when he saw me."

" 'Goodness me you're right,' he said, 'but I thought all the steam engines were scrapped years ago'."

" 'I assure you sir, I can still run if you give me a chance,' I said."

Kristy closed her eyes for a second as she remembered, a small tear came out from her right eye before she continued...

"The scrapyard manager said that he had no more use for me and wanted me to be broken up and tossed into the firepits, but one person ordered the manager to stop. He then walked up towards me, 'tell me young engine, how long have you been here?' "

" 'For years,' I answered, 'ever since the steam engines were retired. I was crushed under a huge pile of scrap after the crane failed'."

"The man then looked over to the manager, 'Sir, I would like to buy this engine from you. I think she'll make a fine addition to my railway of engines'."

"Of course I asked him of what kind of railroad he operates and he told me that he operates a railroad that uses both steam and diesel traction in full operation, I was surprised to hear that, that was until he told me his name, which was Sir Topham Hatt."

" 'Tell me young engine, what is your name'?"

" 'I'm Kirsty,' I answered. I then watched as both men walked away from the scrap pile, which left me with a worried feeling in my old broken boiler."

Kristy stopped in a second when she noticed a workmen climbing a ladder and using some tools to remove her funnel.

"We're going to fit you with your new one tonight," he said, "it'll be just as good as your old one."

He then took the funnel away and into the back part of the sheds. Kristy looked up with a queer look on her face, "now I do feel silly," she groaned, "first my boiler and now this."

"Oh well," Toby smiled, "it's like that man said, you'll have your new one on tonight."

"I guess so," Kristy sighed as she looked back to Toby, "anyways, as for what happened that day...I waited for another hour, I had to guess that Sir Topham Hatt, your Fat Controller as you call him, was having a difficult time buying me. Then finally after an hour, he came back to me with a smile on his face, 'Well Kristy', he said to me, 'I have bought you, I'll have you shipped to my engine works and they'll have you running in no time'. And the rest is pretty much obvious to see."

Toby smiled in agreement, "tell me though, where will you be working once repaired?"

"On the Wellsworth line with an engine named Edward," she answered, "I can't wait," then she looked back up again, "oh right, I am going have to wait. What a bummer!"

_**Aganist Steam**_

As promised that night, the workmen gave Kristy her new funnel.

"At least they gave me a proper funnel," she was saying to Toby, "Throughout the years I used to work as a scrapyard engine, they gave me so many different funnels, especially when one of their workers knocked it off."

"I'm sure it was just a minor accident," Toby said kindly.

"I wish," scoffed Kristy, "at times, those workers smash off my funnel on purpose, mostly because they hated having me work in the scrap yards."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm quite sure, I even remember the one time when my funnel was knocked off on purpose because... - would you like to hear about it Toby?"

"Of course I would," Toby smiled.

And so, Kristy began to tell her story...

The age of steam was almost over on every railway, but the scrap yard manager had agreed to keep Kristy in service as she knew her way around the yards and never made any mistakes, unlike some of the diesel shunters they would bring in.

One worker in the yards wasn't happy by this choice, he prefered diesel over steam.

"I don't know why the manager bothered to keep you in service," he said to Kristy in a rude way, "a diesel engine would be better, they don't make any noise and they certainly don't blow smoke in my face."

Kristy was cross, "I don't know why you complain about my smoke and steam, you always have your doors and windows shut."

"That's because I don't want to get a face full of soot and ashes!"

Even though the man complained bitterly about Kristy being in the yards, she would pay no attention to him, even when he nearly smashed her funnel off.

"Watch out you idiot!" cried her Driver.

Then one wet rainy day, something unexpected happened...Kristy was shunting some of her trucks around in the yards, she was hoping that today she wouldn't have another argument with the crane operator.

"Just ignore him, just ignore him," she puffed to herself.

As she approached the crane, she felt something grab her funnel and pull hard on it.

"He's doing it again!" cried her Driver, "when is he going to learn to stop doing that?"

Inside of the crane, the man was laughing out loud, "now we'll see how useful you are you silly little piece of scrap iron!"

Earlier that day, he had tied up the hook of his crane into a knot, then he moved it into postion until Kristy was ready to come by. His plan was rip the funnel right off and prove to the scrap yard manager of how useless Kristy was.

However, his plan wasn't going to work out as well as he had hoped...

Kristy wasn't the type of engine to give up that easily, so she puffed forward quickly - maybe a little too quickly...

As she puffed forward, Kristy ended up pulling the crane off it's stand and make it fall over onto it's side.

"What in the..." the man was taken by surprise, but he had had little time to react as the crane fell flat on it's side. Although he was going to get his own back on Kristy - the crane's hook was still attached to the funnel and when it fell, it pulled the funnel right off!

"Ow! Ow! OW!" Kristy cried in pain.

"Not again," groaned the fireman, "that's the third time that this man has done this."

Then the fireman noticed Kristy's Driver jump out of the cab and run over to the cab of the crane, he picked up a large piece of metal and smashed the windows with it.

"I know you hate steam engines, but you didn't need to do that!" he snapped at the Crane operator as he helped him out, "I hope you're satified, you damaged my engine again."

The man chuckled quietly, "believe me, that was worth it."

"That man wasn't smiling for long though," said Kristy to Toby, "the manager had warned him in the past not to do something like that again, and since that had been the third time he did that, the manager decided not to give him a warning - the man was fired from his job, and I got a new funnel."

"At least that man got what was coming to him," said Toby.

"He sure did," said Kristy, "and let me tell you this, everyone was glad to see him go, as time went on, other workers came forth and spoke of the man's rude behaviour, and to say that they were glad to see the man go would be an understatement."

"And what about the next crane operator?"

"Him, oh what a nice guy," Kristy sighed happily, "he liked talking with my crew and I whenever we stopped near his crane, it's actually thanks to him that I was spared from the firepit," Kristy let out a big yawn at that moment, "I would like to tell you more, but I am feeling a little sleepy..." and just like that, she went off to sleep.

Toby smiled as he watched the little engine sleep, "sweet dreams young one," he whispered quietly.

_**Classic Collector**_

The following next morning, Kristy's wheels were removed, along with her original cab.

"What are you doing?" she asked the workmen.

"We're giving you new wheels and a cab," said one of the workmen, "They are like your original parts, only without the rust," he chuckled quietly to himself as he walked off.

"Oh great," Kristy groaned, "and here I was hoping they leave that alone. I'm never going to be the same engine I once was."

"Maybe not," said Toby calmly, "but at least you'll be a working engine again."

"That is true," Kristy sighed as she looked down to her buffers, "I guess having new parts isn't that bad, why old Benjamin would agree with me on that one."

"And would Benjamin be?"

"He's an old car I saved years ago," and Kristy began to tell her story.

It was a chilly winter's morning, Kristy was shunting her empty trucks into place, when she spotted an old car sitting in a valley of scrap metal. It's paint was covered in nothing but rust, but it looked like it could still work.

"What are you doing in there?" Kristy asked.

"I've been sent here to be dismentaled and broken up," said the car, "the last time my owner took me out, I blew my engine out and broke down a few miles away from the town. He was cross, so he sent me here to be broken up."

"It's a real shame too," sighed Kristy, "tell me, how long were you running on the roads?"

"For almost thirty years," said the car, "well - it would've been thirty years today."

Kristy felt sorry for the old car, she didn't want to see something as valuable as him go for scrap.

"Isn't there anything we can do to help that dear old car?" Kristy was asking her driver as he was filling her tanks with water.

"I'm not sure if there is," he said, "repairing old cars like him takes alot of time and money, I'm not sure if anyone we know would have both of those to help..."

"I know someone," said the fireman, "my wife's brother, Jake, he has the time and money."

"Are you sure about this?" the Driver asked.

"I'm quite sure, I remember him saying that he would like to start an antique car collection, and I think that old car would be perfect for him. I'll ask my wife tonight to give him a call."

And that's just what he did too.

A few days later, Kristy came up to the scrap pile with her crew, the scrap yard manager and the man her fireman was talking about. He looked at the car, from top to buttom...

"He's in bad shape," said the man, "it would take a long time to repair him, most likely I'll have to replace alot of the broken and worn out parts."

"Is he fixable though?" Kristy's fireman asked.

The man was silent as he looked at the car again, then back to the crew, manager and Kristy, "I think it can be done, it'll be a challenge, but I'm up to it."

"Very well then," said the manager, "you'll need to come to my office to sign some papers, then the car is all yours."

"Thank you sir," smiled the classic car collector.

Both men walked off while the car looked down to his frame, "remove some of my parts, I don't think I like the sound of that."

As the years passed, Kristy never heard a word about the old car, that was until she saw a smart looking car come into the yards.

"Hello there," called the car, "it's good to see you again."

"Is it really you?" Kristy asked.

"It is indeed," the car smiled, "I'm the car you helped to save. Jake has repaired me back to my former glory. I'll admit that I wasn't happy with the new parts at first, but now I'm happy to have them and now I feel like a brand new car. I can't thank you enough dear engine."

"Think nothing of it, I'm Kristy by the way. Do you have a name?"

"Not at first, but I have one now - my owner now calls me Benjamin. It feels good to have a name."

"Come on Benjamin," called his owner, "we best get going."

"I'd love to stay and talk to you some more, but my owner is now on the hunt for more classic cars," and with that, the happy car rumbled away, humming a little tune as he did.

"...and last I heard, Benjamin was still working with his owner to find old classic cars, and I think he's still doing that to this day."

"You know something Kristy," said Toby after the story was told, "you and Edward have a lot in common," and he told Kristy about what Edward did to help Trevor.

"And now I want to meet Edward even more," Kristy smiled and giggled quietly.

"Don't you worry Kristy," said the workmen, "you'll get your chance to meet him soon enough."

Before Kristy could say anything, she saw a bright blue tender enigne back into the workshops beside her.

"Hello there," said the engine, "You know must be Kristy, I'm Edward, I'm very happy to meet you..."

_**Salvation**_

"What brings you here Edward?" Toby asked.

"I'm in here for an annual inspection to make sure that everything is in perfect shape," he answered, then he looked over to Kristy, "and how are the workmen doing in repairing you?"

"They're doing okay," she answered with a shy tone in her voice, she couldn't believe that she was finally getting to meet Edward. Then she asked, "how did you know my name?"

"The Fat Controller told me of course."

"Of course," Kristy said quietly.

"Kristy," Toby piped up next, "I was just wondering if you tell both Edward and I on how you were spared from scrap."

"I'd be glad to tell you - as you already know, the Fat Controller was the one who found me under that pile of scrap and had me brought me here, and I already told you of that nice crane operator that replaced the original horrid one - and now, the story of how I was saved..."

The days of steam engines rolling down the tracks was coming to an end, the diesels were taking over and the steam engines were often taken away to the scrapyards, which included the one that Kristy worked at.

"Leave my friends alone you bully!" she shouted at another diesel who brought another engine in.

"Your friends are all doomed little one," the diesel snickered, "even if I did leave this kettle alone, another diesel will come along and shunt him into the scraper's shed. I bet that one of my little diesel friends will come to take you away for scrap soon."

"You're all talk and no show!" Kristy shouted angerily, "no silly diesel shunter will take me away for scrap."

"Oh but they will, they will indeed!" and the diesel pushed the poor helpless broken down steam engine into the scraper's shed, chortling at his own wit.

"Stupid diesels," Kristy muttered and went back to work.

Still though, Kristy was worried that the day would come that she would be sent for scrap, and the sight of the new diesel engines pushing her steam engine friends into the shops didn't help calm her down at all.

Not everyone in the scrapyards were happy to see the steam engines go, they were upset and even shedded a few tears at the sight.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Kristy asked her crew and the crane operator.

"We can't," said the Driver, "but there is hope for some of the steam engines, some are being bought up by preservation lines and museums, it might not be like the lines the engines used to run on, but at least they are safe."

"Except for me, nobody will want a small tank engine like me."

"I wouldn't say that," said the crane operator, "I'm sure somebody will want to buy you, you just need to be patient."

I'm sorry to say that nobody came to buy Kristy, they were more interested in the engines that were awaiting the end in the scraper's shed. She would watch sadly as some engines puffed out of the shed and yelling 'FREEDOM!' as they steamed their new homes.

"At least they are safe," Kristy sighed to herself.

Then one day, a diesel shunter was called upon to shunt Kristy into the scraper's shed to be dismentled.

"No please don't!" she cried. The diesel shunter didn't say anything. He was buffered up to Kristy, then he pushed her inside the shops. Kristy looked all around to see the reamins of old steam engines laying all over the place, this made her feel uneasy.

"Goodbye," she said quietly.

"No, it's not goodbye," said the diesel shunter, "cause you're not going for scrap."

Kristy looked confused, that was until she saw the crane operator walking over to the crane.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"We're going to hide you," said the diesel shunter, "then someday soon, you'll be found and put back into service. I hate to see a good engine go to waste in this scrap yard, that's why we're helping you."

Kristy was surprised by that the diesel shunter knew what she was going to say, "how did you know..."

"Two other steam engines have asked me that before," he whispered, "and I always say the same thing, I don't want to see you engines get destoryed by the scraper's hands."

The crane operator moved the crane into postion with pieces of scrap iron that was to act like a wall to hide Kristy while the diesel shunter moved Kristy into the siding. Their plan would've worked, had it not been for the yard foreman.

He was cross that they weren't following orders - this turned into a fight between the two - quite literally as the foreman walked into the cab of the crane and fought with the man to stop what he was doing. During the struggle, the crane's cable snapped and dropped all of the scrap iron - on top of Kristy.

"And another one bites the dust," said the yard foreman, chuckling a little.

The diesel shunter and the crane operator were in shock, they thought for sure that Kristy had been crushed and destoryed under all the scrap iron. The diesel shunter was sent off to work somewhere else, while the crane operator was dealt with by the scrap yard manager.

And for years, it was believed that Kristy was gone, along with the other broken up steam engines, but we know the truth, don't we?

"I am in forever debt to the diesel shunter and the crane operator," Kristy was saying to the two engines, "if they hadn't done what they did, I would be gone for good."

Edward, Toby and some of the workmen stood in complete shocked silence for a while.

"At least you were saved from scrap," Edward said after a while.

"Yes indeed," Kristy smiled, "and like the diesel shunter said to me, someone did come to save me and put me back in service and that someone was Sir Topham Hatt. Still though," she sighed, "I wish I had gotten the name of that diesel shunter who saved me, I would like to say 'thank you' to him - but I guess that's just wishful thinking isn't it?"

"I wouldn't say that," said Edward, "I'm sure you'll get to see him again - around here, nothing is impossible."

**The End!**


	6. No 48 Culdee Fell Engines

_**Culdee Fell Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_I'm happy to say that all the Culdee Fell Railway Engines have been doing well over the last few years, through wind and rain, they won't stop the work they are doing. Although there were some minor problems with a new coach that came into the yards not too long ago, who even got one of the Mountain engines in deep trouble with the manager. Still, all turned out well after a while - well, except for the coach, but I'll let you see for yourself of what happened._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Grumbles and Complaints

-Chelsea's Devious Scheme

-Troublesome Chelsea

-The Truth Gets Out

_**Grumbles and Complaints**_

During the summer months, the Culdee Fell Railway is kept very busy with tonnes of visitors coming to see the sights and, of course, the engines. With the large amount of passengers coming to the railway, the manager had ordered for some brand new coaches.

One night, Patrick came into the sheds after talking the passenger trains all day.

"That coach," he grumbled, "she's got quite a tounge!"

"Which coach would you be talking about?" Erenest asked.

"I'm talking about one of the newer coaches. Her name is Chelsea, all she does is complain and grumble because she's being pushed by 'old-fashioned engines' as she calls us."

Culdee chuckled quietly, "does Chelsea's attitude remind you of a certain engine we once knew?"

Patrick looked down to the rack rail in embarrassment, he knew Culdee was talking about him back when he was Lord Harry.

"She'll stop complaining once she gets used to us," Culdee continued, "just be patient Patrick. In the meantime, just ignore her."

"I'll try," he said quietly, but somehow he was doubting Culdee's words, "I really don't think she's going to improve her attitude anytime soon," but he thought it only to himself.

"Alright Chelsea," called Patrick the next morning, "we're going to pick up the passengers now okay?"

"Oh joy," she grumbled, "I get to be pushed by the same steaming relic from yesterday. Why is this railway running old fashioned engines like you?"

Patrick was about to snap back, but then he remembered what Culdee said the night before.

Once he was coupled up to Chelsea, Patrick pushed the grumbling coach to the station. There were lots of people on the platform, "good morning Patrick," one of them called.

"Good morning," Patrick called back, "I hope you will enjoy a run on our lovely line."

"We always have a good time with you Patrick!" called another passenger.

"How can anyone have a good time when they have a stinky steamer on the back of a modern coach like myself," complained Chelsea. Patrick ignored that last remark.

He waited patiently while the passengers boarded the train, then after hearing the guard's whistle blow, Patrick puffed slowly out of the station.

They made excellent timing as they puffed up the mountain, only Chelsea was complaining and grumbling, "steaming kettles, that's what you lot are. You need a diesel, at least they are clean."

Again, Patrick decided to ignore that last remark. He was focusing alot on the climb up the slope.

"Are you listening to me?" Chelsea snapped back at Patrick, but there was no reply, "maybe this will get him to listen to me," with that said, Chelsea applied her brakes on hard.

Patrick could really fell the weight on his buffers now, "why are your brakes on?" he cried to Chelsea.

"What's the matter little steam kettle?" she asked cheekily, "can't push a coach, that shows how useless you can be."

She kept her brakes on all the way up the slope, which made things difficult for Patrick. The guard tried to undo the brakes, but Chelsea, being stubborn, refused to let them go.

"Make him work harder, he'll break down and his manager will sent him off for scrap."

Patrick was going red-face, but he wasn't going to give up, "I'll push you to the top station, like it or not," he snapped angerily.

The Driver opened the regulator more, the fireman shovelled in more coal into the firebox, and Patrick poured on more strength, "get moving you! Get moving you!" he strained.

"You won't Go! You won't Go!" Chelsea chuckled cheekily.

"Go for it Patrick!" cried the passengers, "Show this coach you are no pushover!"

"I won't give up!" Patrick shouted.

He felt as though there were two coaches in front of him, it was hard work, but he struggled on regardless.

At last though, they finally arrived at the top station. Chelsea could not believe it, "he did do it," she gasped, but then her smirk came back, "alright, you win. I'm letting go of my brakes!"

And she did too.

Patrick shot off like a rocket towards the points. He bounced over them and derailed off of them, "oof!" he groaned.

The guard went around the train to see if anyone was hurt, luckily no one was. Chelsea smirked with trimuph, "have a nice trip steam kettle?" she asked cheekily.

The driver and fireman got out to check on Patrick, "no serious damage was done when we came off," said the Driver, "I guess we'll have to call for one of the other engines to help Patrick get back on the tracks."

"I don't think we'll need to," said the fireman and he whispered a plan to the Driver.

"It could work. Go find some steel poles." The fireman didn't need telling twice, he went off to the station. He came back minutes later with steel poles, as many as he could carry, "alright everyone, we're going to need your help to put Patrick back on the rails!"

The passengers were glad to help, they grabbed some poles and placed them under Patrick. Then, after getting huge rocks underneath the poles, they pushed down hard on the poles.

It was hard work, but after a while, the passengers were able to get Patrick back onto the rails, then the Driver moved him slowly over the points until his teeth were in the rack rail again.

"Good work everyone," called the Driver, "Thank you for all your help."

"We were glad to help," said the passengers as they walked off to the station.

"That was brilliant," said the fireman, "where did you come up with an idea like that?"

"Well I heard they did something similar like this on the Skarloey Railway when they're own No. 6, Duncan, came off the tracks."

"What are the odds," chuckled Patrick. Chelsea on the other hand was fuming in rage.

She remained quiet throughout the rest of the day, especially on the down-ward journey home. All the while though, she was thinking to herself, she was thinking of a devious plan - but that will have to wait till the next story.

_**Chelsea's Devious Scheme**_

"Okay so that plan didn't work," Chelsea said to the other 'new' coaches, "but what I have planned for tomorrow, it's sure to work."

"Chelsea," Alison, another new coach, said firmly, "why don't you just give it up already? We're going to be here for a long time and so will those steam engines, so we might as well get used to it."

"I refuse to 'get used to it'," Chelsea huffed angerily.

"Well then do us a favour and keep quiet!" snapped Megan, another one of the new coaches.

"As you wish," Chelsea said quietly, "I'll be quiet - but I won't be pushed around by steaming kettles," no one heard her say that.

The next morning, Patrick was being brought out of the sheds when suddenly - BANG! Steam hissed everywhere, "Ow!" groaned Patrick, "I don't feel good."

"Your boiler is failed," groaned the Driver, "We'll have to inform the manager about this."

They had no need to do that though as the manager had just come into the sheds to talk to Alaric. He had seen everything, "I'll have Alaric push you back into the sheds, then he'll take your coach out for the day."

Once Alaric's fire had been lit, he pushed Patrick back into the shed, and then puffed off to collect Chelsea. As he left, Patrick called out, "Be careful with Chelsea, be on your guard!"

Alaric soon arrived at the coach yards, "Excuse me dear coaches," he said, "but can you tell me which coach is named Chelsea?"

"I'm over here kettle!" the coach said rudely, "What do you want?"

"I'm to take you out today, Patrick's boiler has failed, so the manager has asked me to collect his passengers for him." Alaric puffed forward slowly and gently buffered up to Chelsea.

"Doesn't matter, I'll still drive my point across," she thought to herself, "one engine is as good as another."

Alaric soon arrived at the station, where his crew explained to the passengers why Patrick wasn't on the train today. Then once the passengers were on board, and the guard had blown his whistle, Alaric puffed out of the station.

Chelsea was on her best behaviour on the way up, it was all part of her plan.

"I'll get this kettle on the way down the mountain," she thought to herself and smirked with a devious smile.

At the top station, Alaric met up with Wilfred, who was waiting for the downhill run.

"Did you have a good run up the mountain slope?" Wilfred asked.

"I sure did," answered Alaric, "you know I can't understand why Patrick said to be on my guard around Chelsea, she seems like a really nice coach, I wish I could run with her more often."

"Don't you try anything," Megan the coach said firmly, "you'll get yourself in trouble if you do!"

"I can't hear you," Chelsea said cheekily.

"You're just being silly," Megan snapped, but before she could say anymore, Wilfred's guard blew the whistle and the train started pulling away from the station.

"Talk to you later Wilfred!" Alaric called.

A quarter of an hour later, it was time for Alaric to depart with a train full of new passengers. The guard blew his whistle, Alaric puffed slowly out of the station and a wide grin appeared on Chelsea's face.

"I'm looking forward to this," she chuckled to herself.

Throughout most of the journey down the mountain side, Chelsea was on her best behaviour, which made Alaric he had everything under control.

They were halfway down the slope when..."NOW!" she cried. She bumped into Alaric hard.

"Stop that!" cried Alaric, "it's dangerous to play such tricks on a mountain railway!"

Chelsea didn't respond back to that, she continued to push Alaric down the slope at dangerous speeds. His crew applied the brakes, they managed to slow the train down - but they were still going too fast.

At last they reached the bottom of the mountain, "now let's regain control," said Alaric's Driver. Hard over, full steam and whistle, "now you got her Alaric!"

"That's what you think!" chuckled Chelsea and she pushed back even harder.

Alaric's Driver could see the station coming into view, he applied the brakes as hard as he could - Alaric went into a squealing, groaning slide right into the station.

"What kind of game were you playing at?" asked a stern voice, it was the manager, he didn't look too happy.

"It's that engine sir!" Chelsea called out, "he said to his crew that he wanted to go faster and so they did, I tried to hold them back, but they were just too strong!"

"That's not true!" exclaimed Alaric, "Sir, it was Chelsea, she..."

"I don't want to hear your lies Alaric!" the manager said angerily, "You know it's dangerous to race down the mountain side like that!"

"But sir..."

"Alaric, don't say another word," sighed his Driver unhappily.

"You will take Chelsea back to the yards, then I want you to put Alaric at the back of the sheds! I will talk to you two later," with that said, the manager walked away. Chelsea smirked quietly to herself, she was pleased her plan had worked.

**Author's Note:**

Patrick's boiler failure was inspired by Union Pacific 844's boiler failure at Railfair 99. The Runaway train down the mountain side is purely fictional.

_**Troublesome Chelsea**_

As a punishment for the 'dangerous' stunt down the mountain, Alaric was given the chance to take 'The Truck' after spending several days at the back of the shed.

Whenever he passed the coach yard, he could see Chelsea snickering.

"I warned you not to do that," snapped Megan firmly, "What you did was stupid and dangerous, and now because of you, poor Alaric is stuck working with 'The Truck'."

"I can't understand why you want to be friendly to steaming kettles like him," Chelsea sniffed, "they are dirty things, unlike diesels."

"You better be careful young Chelsea," advised Alison, "otherwise you will get yourself into some serious trouble."

Chelsea only sniffed, she thought she knew better than the other coaches and the engines, "yeah, like that's going to happen - I don't think so," she huffed.

She then saw Alaric puffing back to the water tower, "so much for being a useful engine huh?" she called rudely.

Alaric didn't reply back, he was far too depressed to say anything back.

"It isn't like Alaric to cause that accident," Catherine was saying to Culdee the next day when he came to collect her, "he's always been a gentle and kind engine all these years, so why would he act 'dangerous' now?"

"I don't know my dear Catherine," Culdee said, even he was shocked.

"It wasn't Alaric," said a voice from close by. Catherine and Culdee looked to see Alison standing close by, "it was Chelsea, she pushed hard aganist Alaric on the downhill grade."

"But why?" asked Catherine.

"Well it's because she hates steam engines, so she wants to cause trouble for all of the engines," answered Alison, "by any means possible. That's why she did what she did to Alaric and also to Patrick before he got sick."

"So it was that coach," said Culdee, "I had a feeling it was her."

After a long day working with 'The Truck', Alaric returned sadly to the sheds. His crew took him to the back of the shed, then they left after dropping his fire.

"It's not fair if you ask me," wheezed Patrick, "Alaric didn't do anything wrong."

"Yet he gets blamed while Chelsea gets away with this scheme," Eric said angerily.

"She's not going to get away with this forever," said Culdee, causing all the engines to look over to him, "the truth will get out, don't you lot worry about that."

Culdee's plan was already in motion, even as the engines spoke. Catherine had been parked close to where Chelsea was, "I heard that it was you who got Alaric in trouble," Catherine was saying.

"Oh don't you start too," Chelsea sniffed angerily, "don't start saying I shouldn't have done that."

"No that's not what I was going to say at all, I just want to say - good job."

Chelsea stared at Culdee's coach with disbelieve. Catherine was, of course, lying to Chelsea, it was all part of Culdee's plan, but Chelsea didn't know that - nor did she know that Culdee's Driver and fireman were hiding inside of Catherine with a tape recorder.

"Did I just hear you say 'good job' to me for what I did?" Chelsea asked in shock.

"I did," Catherine lied, "it's good to see a coach who's not afraid to speak her mind and take action."

"Finally someone's speaking my language," Chelsea said with a smile on her face, "although I'll tell you this - and don't you say a word about this to anyone, but...I was originally going to get back at No. 6. Oh well, one is as good as another right?"

Catherine quietly agreed. She and Chelsea talked for a long time until the new coach grew tired and went off to sleep.

"You guys can go now," Catherine whispered to Culdee's crew, "did you get everything?"

"Yep, we got it all," whispered Culdee's Driver, "we'll turn it over to the manager tomorrow."

The men said good night to Catherine, then they left the coach yards, as quietly as they could.

By the next morning, Chelsea had made up her mind that she wasn't going to let the engines take her out. So when Enerest came to take her out, she slammed on her brakes and refused to be moved.

"Get me a diesel and I'll let go of my brakes!" she said angerily, "I refuse to be pulled by useless steam kettles!"

"There are no diesels on our railway!" Erenest said firmly, "so you're going have to get used to be taken out by a steamer."

But Chelsea would not except it and continued refusing to move at all, "we're taking you out, like it or not!" called the Driver, who opened the regulator - but Chelsea still wouldn't move.

"I won't go! I won't go!" she protested.

The other coaches all told Chelsea to stop resisting, but she wouldn't listen to them. It would've been better if she did. There was a loud snap and within seconds, Enerest and Chelsea were racing out of the yards.

"Stop!" cried Enerest.

His Driver applied the brakes as hard as he could - then there was another snap, it came from Chelsea's coupling. Enerest came to a complete stop, but Chelsea rolled on towards a sharp curve - she rolled right off it and skidded away on the ground before coming to a complete stop.

"OW!" she cried, "I think something's broken!"

"You already broke your brakes!" called Megan, "that's what you get for your foolish antics!"

Enerest's Driver and fireman went to check on Chelsea, it was bad. One of her wheel sets had broken off and were sitting a short distance away from Chelsea, she didn't have a back coupling anymore and she was missing a part of the floor.

"We'll have to inform the manager about this," sighed Enerest's Driver, "he's not going to be happy about this."

The Driver got out his mobile phone and called the manager, he wasn't happy to hear about the accident, "Erenest will have to take another coach, we'll deal with Chelsea later," the manager said to the Driver, "you can't keep the passengers waiting."

With that confirmed, the crew took Enerest away to get another coach, leaving Chelsea in her awkward position.

_**The Truth Gets Out**_

Later in the manager's office, Culdee's crew were playing the entire tape of Chelsea's entire confession to Catherine the night before. When the tape had finished, the manager sighed deeply and leaned back on his chair.

"I blamed Alaric for something he didn't do," he groaned, "I should apologize to him," he then spoke to the crew, "you two did quite well last night, and Catherine too - please tell her that."

"We will sir," said Culdee's Driver, "and if I may so sir, it was Culdee's idea."

"Well then thank Culdee too. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with Alaric," he grabbed his coat, then he headed for the door.

"Excuse me sir," said Culdee's fireman, "what are you going to do about Chelsea?"

"Oh don't worry about that coach, I already have something planned for her..." he said no more on the subject as he walked out of his office. The crew walked out after him, then they walked over to their engine.

"The manager thanks you for your idea Culdee," said his Driver, "he's now going to put things right. Now come on, let's go get Catherine." Culdee smiled happily as he was taken off to the coach yards.

The manager opened the doors of the sheds, Eric was coupled up to Patrick for the trip to the junction where their line meets the electric line.

"Can we help you at all sir?" asked one of the workers.

"Yes you can, is Alaric in here?" he asked.

"I'm over here sir," called a sad voice. The Manager walked over towards the voice, and found Alaric looking down to the tracks with a sad look on his face. He didn't look up to the manager, all he could see were the manager's feet. Then he felt someone patting his boiler.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you Alaric, you were telling me the truth," the manager said kindly, "it was Chelsea who caused that runaway, not you."

"I bet it has something to do with Culdee's plan," Patrick whispered to Eric.

"How did you find out sir?"

"You can thank Culdee for that. He asked his crew to hide in Catherine last night with a tape recorder, they recorded every single word Chelsea said, which included her confession of who really caused that runaway down the mountain."

"So now Alaric," he continued, "I'm allowing you to go back to work, right after I give you a good wash."

"Oh thank you sir," Alaric smiled.

Some workers offered to help, but the manager wanted to do the job alone. He washed Alaric all over throughout the entire time, so that when he was brought out of the shed during the afternoon, he looked splendid again.

"Before you go collect your passengers Alaric," said the manager, "there's one job I want you to do," he then spoke to Alaric's Driver, "may I drive him to the yards?"

"By all means sir, go right ahead," smiled Alaric's Driver.

And so, the manager took Alaric took the yards where they fetched a crane and a flat truck, then they puffed off to the coach yards - right where Chelsea could be seen.

"Oh my Chelsea," gasped Alaric, "what happened to you?"

Chelsea didn't answer, she just snarled at Alaric. She stopped when she saw the manager walk over to her, "you can't lie your way out of this mess," he said firmly, "I know that it was you that caused that runaway down the mountain. You should've known better than that Chelsea, it is dangerous and foolish to go flying down the mountain like that!"

This time, Chelsea did listen, she looked worried, "I also heard from Patrick that you held back on him on the mountain when he took you out," the manager continued, "do you have a problem with the engines taking you out?"

"I'm just not used to be taken out by steam engines sir, they are noisey and dirty - unlike diesels, I'm used to them. I would prefer being taken out by a diesel, not steam."

"Is that so?" the manager asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes sir," the coach answered quietly, "So if you get a diesel, I'll be glad to go out."

The Manager stared at Chelsea firmly, which scared her a bit, "very well then, if this is the way you're feeling, then until a diesel is brought to the railway, we'll move you out of the yards and use you as a storage shed."

"What?" Chelsea shierked, "but sir, you can't do that!"

"Oh but I can, that's why I took Alaric to get a crane and a flat truck. Maybe some time off the rails will teach you some manners, if not - I'm sure you'll be a great storage shed."

Chelsea pleaded with the manager again and again to reconsider, but he refused and ordered for the crane to lift her onto the flatbed. Then Alaric took her off to the station where she lifted to her new place.

"The workers have always needed a new shed anyways and now they have one," said the manager.

"Look on the bright side Chelsea," called Alaric as he was taken away, "at least you were spared from scrap." Chelsea watched as Alaric puffed away, then she looked down sadly - she knew she would have alot to think about.

Later that evening, most of the Mountain engines had gathered to say good bye to Patrick before he was taken away. He had already been lifted onto a flatbed and now he and Christopher, one of the electric engines, were waiting for a clear signal.

"Will I be going to the same shops that overhauled Culdee sir?" Patrick asked the manager.

"Yes indeed Patrick," he answered, "they've done great work on many of our engines over the years and I know they'll have you running as good as new again."

"That's good to know," Patrick smiled.

"The line won't be the same without you Patrick," Alaric said kindly, "we'll miss you."

"Well I'm miss you all too," he said with a sad tone in his voice, then he smiled again, "I want you engines to promise me something."

"And what would that be?" Wilfred asked.

"Tell me everything of what I've missed when I come back." The engines, of course, promised.

Just then, the singal dropped - Christopher started his horn and started rumbling away. All the mountain engines started to whistle a goodbye to Patrick and then they shouted, "Come back soon!"

"Oh don't worry," Patrick said with a quiet happy chuckle, "I'll be back."

_**The End!**_


	7. No 49 Adams the South Western Engine

_**Adams the South Western Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_While Toby was away at the works for an overhaul, the Fat Controller borrowed another engine to work on Thomas' branch line. This was one of the many engines from the Bluebell Railway, No. 488, Adams as Stepney called him. During his stay, Adams showed off his skills with handling trucks and even came to the rescue when one of the engines who blew a fuse, can you guess which engine I'm taking about? Anyways, here's what happened when Adams came to the Island of Sodor._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Adams

-Western Rivalry

-Daisy Takes On Too Much

-Sleep-Puffing

_**Adams**_

With Toby away at the works for his overhaul, the Fat Controller had to enlist the help of another engine to help with the branch line work. He made several phone calls, but most of the lines couldn't spare any of their engines. There was one though that could spare one of their engines.

The visitor arrived a few days later, but by the time he arrived, it very late in the evening and the other engines were asleep.

"I'm sure I'll get to talk to them tomorrow," the engine puffed quietly to himself.

His crew parked him inside Toby's berth, dropped his fire and then went off to get some sleep in a local Inn.

The next morning, Thomas and Percy awoke to find another engine in Toby's berth, "hello," Thomas said, still surprised, "who would you be?"

The engine was about to answer when Percy blurted, "Adams!" he cried, "your name is Adams right? You work on the Bluebell Railway!"

The engine smiled and chuckled quietly, "you guessed right my young green friend. To many, I'm known as 488, but to others I am indeed Adams and yes I do work on the Bluebell Railway."

"Another Bluebell visitor?" asked Daisy as she was being prepared, "we haven't had a visitor from your line in years."

"Well, we have been busy expanding with our work and expanding the line. Sadly, we haven't gotten to East Grinstead yet, but we're getting there."

"Last time Stepney was here," said Thomas, "he told us that your line had saved quite a few engines from the dreaded gas axe," Thomas nearly shivered when he said that, "has your line saved any other engines since Stepney's last visit?"

"Yes we have saved some other engines since Stepney was last here," smiled Adams, "there's the Earl of Berkeley, a great western engine who at the time when he came looked younger than he was. Then there's Burch Groove, he was in a terrible state when Stepney came here, but he was soon repaired and is back in action again."

"That's good to know. Any others?"

"Oh yes, there's Fenchurch, one of Stepney's brothers and there's also our Bulleid Pacific Engine. He's quite an elegant engine, but can be a thick headed at times," Adams chuckled, "you should've heard his boasting during our 50th anniversary last year."

"How was the anniversary anyways?" Percy asked, "I heard you engines were so busy that Stepney couldn't come here for a visit."

"Yes we were quite busy last year giving people rides on our old line. As for Stepney though, he and Bluebell were kept busy on railtours."

"They travelled on alot of British rails," Adams continued, "from what they said to me, they spread the word of the Bluebell line wherever they were. People came by the dozens to see them and their black paint work."

"I thought Stepney's paint was dark yellow," said Daisy.

"It was, but for our 50th anniversary, Stepney was painted black with red outlines and Bluebell was painted with blue stripes with her black paint and both of them had their names painted in white. Lucky engines they were," Adams chuckled happily, "then there was the grand parade of steam."

"Grand parade of steam?" Percy asked.

"Yes, many of the engines were coupled together, then they puffed back and forth along the line, blowing their whistles. Others were in the sidings, but they whistled to the many engines that passed - it was a glorious sound to hear."

Adams closed his eyes, remembering the grand parade of steam.

His Driver soon came into the sheds, "come on Adams, we're needed down at the harbour right now."

"Ah well, work is work," smiled the South Western engine, "I'll talk to you engines later, it was nice to meet ya!"

His Driver opened the regulator, then Adams puffed slowly out of the sheds.

He soon arrived at the harbour where the trucks were waiting to be shunted, "oh look at what we got here," snickered one of the trucks, "we got a big lime on wheels."

"I see some things don't change," smiled Adams.

He puffed up to the trucks, then he gave them a firm bump, "oh! Oh! Oh!" they cried.

"Alright you trucks listen up!" Adams called firmly, "I know that you like causing trouble for us engines, but I have to ask you not to play any of your tricks today as we have lots of work to do! You have a choice, either we get our work done with little trouble or I will take action to keep you lot in order. It's your choice!"

The trucks looked at Adams, then they spoke quietly to eah other.

"We've heard this kind of talk before," said one of the trucks, "from some of the over confident engines."

"Maybe, but this one doesn't look over confident," said another truck, "it almost sounds like Edward with a southern accent."

"Or like Duck," a third truck said.

"And judging from his size, he could probably break us like Oliver did with S.."

After talking to each other for a bit, the trucks spoke with Adams, "we've all decided that we're not going to play tricks on you," one of the trucks said, "as long as you promise not to bump us."

"I won't bump you unless you misbehave," said Adams.

Once that had been arranged, Adams went to work. He shunted the trucks around the harbour for a bit, then he took a loaded goods train down to the junction where he met James.

Later that night, Adams returned to the sheds after a long day's work. Thomas and Percy were already there, while Daisy was out with the passengers.

"How did you do it Adams?" Percy asked, "how were you able to keep the trucks in order?"

"I just asked them not to cause trouble for me," he said, "and they all agreed that they wouldn't."

"I can guess why," said Thomas with a chuckle, "they're probably worried that you break them into pieces."

Adams chuckled quietly for a few seconds, "ya engines don't know how many times I have heard that," he said, "many of the engines on the South Western said the same thing to engines of my class. I guess it's because of our size and strength."

And for the rest of the night, Adams told Thomas and Percy all about the days on the South Western until they grew tired and went off to sleep. All, except for Adams.

"Stepney was right," he thought to himself, "this is a lovely railway. I'm sure glad I came."

_**Western Rivalry**_

Dan the Little Western's only diesel was coming into the yards of Knapford just as James arrived with his last train of the day, "we've got another famous visitor here on Sodor," James said out loud.

"Oh?" said Dan, "what's the visitor's name?"

"His name is Adams the South Western Engine. He's come from the Bluebell Railway to help while Toby is away for his overhaul. You're not going to believe me when I tell you this," James continued, "but he didn't have any trouble with the trucks at all."

Dan gasped, "he didn't?"

"That's right, he didn't. I sure wish I knew his secret, then maybe I can keep the trucks in order whenever I take them out."

Dan chuckled quietly as he took his trucks away. Once his trucks were shunted into the sidings, he took some empty trucks back to the Little Western.

After his work was done, he rumbled off back to the sheds to speak with Duck and Oliver, who were resting after taking the passengers all day.

"Keeping those trucks in order Dan?" Duck asked.

"I sure am," the little diesel answered, "Oh and guess what? We've got another visitor visiting our railway, I heard about it from James. The visitor is working on Thomas' branch line while Toby is away."

"Who is the visitor?" Duck asked, "is it John Molson again?"

"Nope, James said this was a South Western Engine from..."

"South Western?" Oliver asked while raising an eyebrow, "there's a South Western Engine on our railway? Are you sure it's a South Western engine?"

"Yes it's South Western, that's what James said," Dan was slightly confused, "what's wrong with that?"

"The South Westerners," Oliver said with a firm tone in his voice, "are all a bunch of stuck-ups, who thought they are the most important engines to ever roll down British rails, but of course they weren't. Besides being rude engines, they could never pull trains like us 'Great Westerners' could, it's because they were never designed properly."

"We 'Great Westerners' all had a saying long ago," Oliver continued, "Never trust them South Western engines, they deserve no respect from any of us. So be on your guard Dan."

"But I don't have a guard," he said.

"It's a figure of speech," Oliver grunted and then went off to sleep. Not another word was said that night.

The next morning, Dan was working near the chute along with Douglas and Toad, who was sitting in a siding close by, "what's up Mr. Dan?" asked Toad.

"It's Oliver," the little diesel answered, "he was telling me last night about the rivalry between the Great Western and South Western."

"Oh yes the rivalry, it's been going on for a long time. I was always hoping that the two lines would put aside their differences and just be friends, but they never did."

"Then there's no telling what Oliver is going to do when he meets up with the visiting engine.," Dan said quietly, he was worried.

Oliver at this time was taking a load of ballast trucks to the yards at the big station. When he arrived, he found the engine of the discussion the night before at one of the platforms, "he's South Western all right," Oliver grunted and snarled under his breath, then he noticed Henrietta and Victoria behind the engine, "and he has the nerve to steal Toby's coaches."

Orginally, it was Percy who was going to take the coaches, but he was busy with other work, so Adams had been given the chance to take the passengers.

As he waited, he saw Oliver coming in with his ballast trucks.

"Hello there," he called kindly, "My name is..."

"I couldn't care less of what your name is," said Oliver rudely, "I already know who you are...you're a South Western engine."

"Yes," Adams had been taken aback by this comment, "I am a South Westerner, I've come from..."

"As I said, I couldn't care less. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to shunt these trucks into the sidings. I'll show you what real westerners can do!"

Oliver shunted his trucks into a siding, then went into another siding to take on water before returning with more empties, but that's when he ran into trouble. He was focusing so much on how to show Adams how useful he was that he didn't notice the set of buffers coming up.

"Stop Oliver!" cried his Driver. He tried to apply the brakes, but Oliver would not respond.

"The other Great Western engines would be proud of..." his thoughts were suddenly interupted when he heard a shout from a workman. Before he knew it, Oliver had smashed threw the buffers and rolled onto the ballast before coming to a stop.

His crew were shaken from the impact, but they weren't hurt, so they went off to get help.

"First the Scottish twins break the buffers and now you, what is it with you engines and buffers?" the workmen asked angerily. Oliver didn't answer back, he was feeling quite embarrassed.

Adams was the only engine nearby who could help. As you can guess, Oliver refused to be rescued by a South Western engine, but Adams took no notice and soon had Oliver back onto the tracks.

"It's degrading to be rescued by one of your kind," he snarled at Adams.

"You're quite welcome," Adams said, ignoring Oliver's rude remark, "I love to stay and chat, but I'm needed back on the branch line." And with that, Adams left Oliver alone in the siding.

"No serious damage has been done to him," said Oliver's fireman, "we can take him back to the Little Western."

"I don't know why you ignored me Oliver," the Driver said firmly, "but I hope it doesn't happen again, unless you want the Fat Controller to have a little talk with you."

Oliver said nothing more and puffed off to collect the empty ballast wagons.

That night, Adams told the other engines about what happened that day, "I guess there are some engines from the Great Western that still believe in the rivalry of our lines," he said, "don't worry though my friends, I'm sure that before I leave for the Bluebell again, Oliver and I will become friends - but it's not going to be easy."

_**Daisy Takes On Too Much**_

"It's great having Adams here," Daisy said one night in the sheds, "now I don't have to pull all those trucks anymore."

"Since when do you ever pull trucks?" asked Thomas, "I heard you wouldn't pull any trucks while I was away following my accident into the Stationmaster's house. Come to think of it, you still don't pull trucks nowadays."

"I do so!" snapped Daisy, "I've taken plenty of goods trains over the years."

"Okay Daisy, tell me - when was the last time you took a goods train?" Thomas asked cheekily. There was silence for almost a minute, "I thought so, you haven't taken a goods train in a long time, thus proving my point."

"Oh shut up Thomas!" Daisy snapped, Thomas just laughed. He was still laughing when Adams came puffing into the sheds, "I'll take a goods train tomorrow, that will prove you wrong."

"What's going on here?" Adams asked, Percy explained everything to him. "Ah I see," he said after a while, he then looked over to Daisy, "take care when pulling trucks Daisy, they can be a bit of a bother at times, so remember to be on your guard at all times."

"Yeah, yeah," Daisy said. Adams had a feeling though that Daisy didn't hear a single word he said.

The next morning when the crews came to get their engines ready for the day's work, they found out that Thomas wasn't feeling well. It didn't take long for Thomas' fireman to find the problem, "your tanks are all full of sledge, looks like you won't be able to work today."

"I guess it was a bad idea to use the standpipe instead of going to a water tower," groaned the Driver.

"What about my trains though?" Thomas asked weakily.

"I'll take them for you," Daisy boasted out loud, "I'm sure I can handle your trains and still be on time with my passenger runs." Once it was confirmed, Daisy was coupled up to Annie and Clarabel, then she puffed off to collect the milk van.

"Now I'll show him, now I'll show him," Daisy chuckled out loud.

"She's over confident," whispered Annie.

"She's going to get herself into trouble," added Clarabel.

When she reached Ffarquhar, she met up with Mavis, who had brought up the stone trucks from the quarry, "hello Daisy, what are you doing with Annie and Clarabel...and the milk van?"

"Oh I'm just doing Thomas' jobs as well as my own, he's not feeling well today," Daisy then told Mavis about the previous night's conversation, "looks like I'm going to prove him wrong right?"

"Maybe, but if you're not careful, then you might run into trouble."

At one time, Mavis would've agreed with Daisy, but after learning a few things from Toby, she has learned that showing off will land you in serious trouble.

Daisy just chuckled as the milk van was uncoupled from her train. Once the passengers had gotten off, Daisy shunted the van into a siding.

"Nothing to it," she thought to herself.

When she returned to the platform, the stationmaster came out to speak with her and her Driver, "can you take these trucks to the harbour? Percy is busy at the moment and won't be able to collect them."

"Well I guess we could," said Daisy's Driver.

"Of course we could," boasted Daisy, "we can handle the trucks and still be on time with our passenger trains."

Once everything had been arranged, Daisy was coupled up to the trucks. Then once the passengers were on board, she rumbled off to the harbour, "Thomas won't be teasing me about not taking goods trains after today," she thought happily to herself. She was looking forward to boasting about it to Thomas when they next met.

Or so she thought. The trucks had been cheeky and troublesome all the way up with Mavis, and now they wanted to play some more tricks.

"Let's make this Motor Coach mad," they giggled in their silly way, "hold back! Hold Back!"

And that's just what they did, they held back and made the journey to the harbour a difficult one. Daisy had to use every ounce of her strength to keep the train moving, "get moving you! Get moving you!" she snorted angerily.

The trucks refused and continued to keep their brakes on. Despite the truck's tricks, Daisy arrived at the harbour where she found Percy shunting, "thanks for bringing the trucks Daisy," he said happily, "you look tired, why don't you rest here for a bit?"

"I can't," panted Daisy, "I have to collect the passengers."

She then rumbled away back to the station. Before she reached the station, she was stopped by a yard worker, "can you take some of these empty trucks to the junction."

"I don't know," said Daisy's Driver, "Daisy is a little worn out from..."

"I do it," she panted, "this will surely prove Thomas wrong."

Her Driver wasn't so sure about this, but since they didn't have time to argue, he took Daisy and the coaches over to where the trucks were. Once they were coupled up and the passengers were on board, Daisy rumbled away from the harbour.

They were hardly out of sight when it happened - there was a muffled explosion and Daisy came to a stop.

"Oh I don't believe this," groaned the Driver, "You blew your fuse out again. No more work for you today."

"Oh bother and blow," groaned Daisy.

Just then, Adams arrived, "hello Daisy, what's the matter with you?" he asked. Daisy's Driver explained everything, "well don't worry Daisy, I can help you out."

And by golly, Adams did. After he shunted his trucks into a siding, he buffered up in front of Daisy and then he took her and entire train along the branch line. The trucks started playing their tricks again, but regreted it once they had stopped and Adams taught them to behave themselves.

Thanks to Adams, the trains were only a few minutes late, the passengers didn't mind though, "we would've had a long walk here if you didn't come along," they said to him, "we'll tell all our friends about you and your railway."

Even Daisy thanked Adams for helping, "ah well, what are friends for?" he smiled.

Later that night in the sheds, Daisy was quick to notice that Thomas did not say a single word about her pulling a goods train, "I guess I did show Thomas that he was wrong," but she kept that to herself.

_**Sleep-Puffing**_

After another long day's work, Adams puffed back to the sheds, all of his trains had run to perfect time and he had had no trouble with the troublesome trucks. As he was puffing into the sheds, he overheard Thomas and Percy talking.

"Are you sure your Driver was telling you the truth when he told you that?" Thomas asked.

"I'm quite sure."

"Excuse me for barging in," said Adams, "but I would like to know what you two are talking about."

"Sleep-puffing," said Percy, "according to my Driver, it's like sleep walking, only difference is that the engine is puffing away all by itself - quite like Thomas did once before."

"Must you bring that up?" Thomas grunted under his breath.

Adams chuckled, but it wasn't over what Percy said about Thomas, "oh gosh, I haven't heard that story in ages - all the engines on the South Western were talking about it almost every night, except for one."

"Why?" Thomas asked.

Adams chuckled, "it's mostly because he was the engine that was 'sleep-puffing'." And so Adams began to tell his story...

On the old South Western, Adams, who was known No. 488, worked alongside other engines along the line, they all loved doing their work, coaches or trucks, it was all the same to them. All except for one, a big South Western engine who was quite lazy and didn't like doing any work. If he did, then he would complain none stop.

"An important engine like me," he boasted, "needs his rest and to be admired by the adoring crowds that come to see us. You little engines can do the work while we tender engines get our rest."

"He's such a lazy engine," No. 489 said to No. 488, "I would love to see him do some work - for that matter, I would love to see him come out of this shed."

"Ain't going to happen," said another tender engine, "the only way he can do that is as if he puffs out while sleeping."

"Pah," snorted No. 489, "like that's ever going to happen."

Later that evening, the sheds were mostly empty except for the few engines that were in there. The big boastful tender engine was sleeping once again and muttering, "a grand engine needs his rest."

No. 488 woke up and looked over to the big engine, "you're muttering in your sleep again," he whispered.

The big engine stopped muttering - but that's when something strange happened. With a hissing and a groaning, the big tender engine started to puff forwards.

"It's a little late in the evening to be working isn't it?" asked No. 487, another one of Adams' brothers.

No. 488 was about to respond back, but he didn't as he looked into the cab and noticed nobody was in there, "he's sleep-puffing," he exclaimed, "he's on the loose!"

"Impossible," muttered No. 489, "an engine can't go anywhere without it's crew."

"Then you better tell him that," said No. 487, now wide awake, "cause he's heading for the shed doors!"

And indeed the big engine was. He bashed threw the shed doors, demolishing them into pieces. What was surprising though was that the big engine didn't wake up. He puffed away from the sheds and towards the main line. Other engines saw the runaway 'sleeping' engine, so when they reached their next station or a signalbox, their crews sent out a warning.

All singals were changed to red and all trains were diverted into sidings.

As for the sleeping engine, he never opened up his eyes.

He soon reached another station, the third one away from the shed, a workmen was waiting on the platform and ready to act. He timed his movement perfectly, and then made a daring jump into the cab and applied the brakes.

"Wha..." said the big tender engine, "what's going on?"

"You were sleep puffing that's what!" said the workmen, "luckily for us we were able to stop you before you hurt someone."

"I...I...was sleep puffing?" the big engine was stunned by what he was just told...

"...Following that incident, something changed with that big engine," said Adams, "he started working more and we wouldn't hear him boasting about always needing a rest."

"Maybe that incident gave him a good scare," said Thomas, then he asked, "did they ever find out why that engine puffed out in his sleep?"

"It's because his crew didn't put out his fire properly, nor did the Driver close the regulator properly," Adams answered, "after that day, they promised to double check to prevent that incident from happening again and I'm happy to say that he never did again."

"Adams," Percy spoke up, "do you think that engine was scrapped?"

"I don't know Percy, it's been years since I last that engine. I'm hoping though that he's either in a museum or working on a preservation line. I'm sure one day we'll know the answer to that question."

Following that discussion, the engines went off to sleep - Adams was the last to go to sleep, as he slept, he dreamed about the days on the South Western, "those were good times," he thought happily to himself.

_**The End!**_


	8. No 50 Celebration Engines

_**Celebration Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_There was a huge celebration going on Sodor for the release of the 50th book of the Railway Series. All the engines were excited to hear this and some got a little too big for their buffers again. Such engines like Duncan and Mike asked me not to include their stories into this book, but I think it will serve them right for being so cocky. I only hope Sir Handel won't be mad at me for including his 'Ghost' story into this book. Plus, the Fat Controller revealed a special surprise at the celebration party, but I mustn't say anymore or I'll spoil the surprise._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-The Quarry Ghost

-Muddy Mike

-Dan and the Rickety Troublesome Truck

-Terence to the Rescue

-The Unexpected Hero

_**The Quarry Ghost**_

"_One night long ago, a little engine was puffing into the quarry. He was being rough and reckless as he reached the Mine-Shaft of the old Quarry. His Driver tried to stop him, but he fought aganist his Driver's control - it was a big mistake. He charged into the mine, then derailed on a rail joint and smashed into a support beam - the whole mine caved in on him and his crew, trapping them in there forever._"

"_One year after the accident, some workers and another little engine were working the late shift when they heard the sounds of pistons pumping and a long deep whistle could heard. Then they saw it, the little engine that was trapped the year before, only now it was...a Ghost! It blew it's whistle and shouted 'Stay Out of My Mine!'. The workers and little engine did, but not before the engine screamed, 'ignore my warning and you will join me in this mine forever!' and then the ghost engine disppeared. And on every year, the little engine reappears to give out his warning to those who don't listen._"

It was a star filled night with a full moon shining brightly. Skarloey had been telling the little engines a ghost story. Many of the little engines stood in silence, they had been scared.

"What nonsense," scoffed Sir Handel, "there is no such things as ghosts!"

"Are you sure there are no such things as ghosts?" Ivo Hugh asked nervously, "that story sounded very real to me."

"Skarloey just made that story up," huffed Sir Handel, "you can stop worrying Ivo Hugh, for there are no such things as ghosts."

Just then his crew arrived, "come on Sir Handel," said his Driver, "we're needed down at the quarry tonight, Thin Controller's orders."

"Sure thing," smiled Sir Handel, "now I'll show you Ivo Hugh, if I come back to the sheds screaming, then there is a ghost. If not - then I will tell you 'I've Told You So'." With that said, he puffed away from the sheds.

"I'll show them, I'll show them," he puffed to himself until he was out of sight of the sheds.

"Do you think he'll actually meet a ghost at the Quarry?" Ivo Hugh asked.

Skarloey could see just how upset Ivo Hugh was, and so he told the new little engine that the story wasn't real, "Rheneas made up that story years ago when we were younger, it never happened."

"That's a relief," sighed Ivo Hugh, "but now we'll hear nothing but boasting from Sir Handel."

"He'll never let us hear the end of it," groaned Duncan in agreement.

Speaking of Sir Handel, after he had collected his trucks, he puffed off to the Quarry, "silly Ivo Hugh, scared of a ghost story Skarloey told him," he chuckled, "I'll show him there's nothing to be scared of."

It wasn't long before Sir Handel arrived at the quarry. He helped to shunt the trucks and took away loaded ones.

On his fifth trip back to the quarry, dark clouds began to roll in. Thunder could be heard just above him, "it might rain in a bit," said the Driver, "good thing this is our last trip of the night, then we'll take you back to the sheds."

Before Sir Handel could say anything, he felt lots of cold rain drops falling down hard on his boiler, "yuck!" he groaned.

Unknown to his crew though, Sir Handel was starting to get nervous - he was starting to wonder if Skarloey's tale was for real. He had heard, according to several other ghost stories that it gets very cold whenever a ghost appears.

"It's not a real story, ghosts aren't real," he puffed, but he didn't sound very convincing.

Sir Handel soon returned to the quarry to pick up last load. "Hurry up!" Sir Handel shouted at the workmen, "Hurry up!"

"We're going as fast as we can here," said one of the workmen, "just be patient."

"What's gotten you so worked up tonight Sir Handel?" asked his Driver, "anyone would think a ghost was going to show up and scare you out of your buffers."

"Please don't say that," Sir Handel muttered quietly.

At last the workmen had loaded the last of Sir Handel's trucks and he was ready to go. Just as he was going to puff away, he heard the faint sounds of pistons pumping - it was coming from the nearby mine shaft. Sir Handel didn't move an inch, he was frozen in fear.

"Come on Sir Handel, let's go!" shouted his Driver.

But Sir Handel didn't. The puffing noises got louder and louder, Sir Handel shook voilently - then they heard a whistle coming from inside the mine shaft.

"IT'S THE GHOST!" screamed Sir Handel and within seconds, he was puffing out of the quarry like a rabbit out of a hat.

What Sir Handel didn't know was that the ghost was none other than Peter Sam, he and some workmen had been working inside the mineshaft to make it safer.

"I wonder what's going on around here?" said Peter Sam.

Nobody knew why Sir Handel screamed. Speaking of which, once Sir Handel had dropped off his trucks, he hurried off to the sheds as fast as he could go.

"Hello Sir Handel," said Fred, "you look like you've just seen a..."

"Don't say a word," quivered Sir Handel, "don't you say that word in front of me."

And for the rest of the night, Sir Handel didn't say a single word. Of course the others soon found out that Peter Sam was the 'Ghost' that scared Sir Handel, "so that's why he ran away," said Peter Sam.

When Sir Handel was told of this, the others were expecting to hear him say there are no such things as ghosts, but he never did. "What's the matter Sir Handel?" Duncan asked cheekily, "Ghost got your tounge?" Sir Handel said nothing and pretended like he didn't hear Duncan.

_**Muddy Mike**_

"You won't believe this," Bert was saying one morning, "but the 50th Railway Series book is soon to be released, isn't that great?"

"50 books already?" Rex asked in surprise, "it seems like yesterday when the Thin and Fat Clergymen came to our sheds to speak with us about that book they did."

"Or when the Thin Clergyman's son came to speak to me," boasted Jock, "I am the only one out who got a book to himself."

"You weren't the only one who was in that book you know," snorted Mike, "we all got mentioned in that book, even Frank got mentioned - even though he nearly knocked down our shed in the process."

"It was an accident," Frank protested.

"That's not what I heard," chuckled Rex.

A noisy argument started up between the engines, "they're going to be at this for a while," sighed Blister II, "what do you say we get to work?"

Blister I, his twin, silently agreed and the two maintenance diesels rumbled off to work.

Both Blister I and Blister II are mostly used on maintenance jobs on the Small Railway, they usually go along the line everyday before the passenger and ballast trains to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the line.

As Blister I rolled over a strecth of track, he felt it sink a bit.

"Stop Blister II!" he tooted, "something's wrong with the line!"

Blister II was brought to a smooth stop and his Driver got out to inspect the track, "Good thing you stopped us Blister I," he called, "there is something wrong with the line."

"What seems to be the problem?" Blister I's Driver asked.

"The line is a little uneven here, my guess is that the earth has been washed away from the heavy rainfalls we've had recently. We'll have to inform Control about this and fix this part of the line."

"Sounds like a good plan Daniel," said Blister I's Driver, "you and Blister II go back to the yards and warn all other trains not to come down this line and I'll take Blister I to the next station to get some earth."

With that confirmed, the two diesels headed off their seperate ways. Blister II's Driver informed Control using the radio in the cab.

Blister II soon returned to the yards to find Mike waiting to collect ballast, "Sorry Mike," said Blister II, "but you'll have to wait till we get the all clear from up the line, a part of the line is uneven."

But Mike wasn't listening to Blister II, he was thinking about his 'discussion' with the other engines, "I should have a book of my own," he thought to himself, "maybe it could be called 'Mike the Small Red Engine' or better yet, 'Mike the Red Engine', now that's better."

"Mike!" Mike snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to see his Driver looking down to him, "I saw Blister II talking to you, what did he say?"

"You didn't hear?"

"No, I went to get a coffee," he said.

"Ah...he said that we've got the all clear to go on ahead," he said.

"Very well then, let's go." Once the Driver was on board, Mike puffed away with his ballast runs.

As he puffed along the line, Mike kept on thinking on titles for his own book, "maybe 'Mike the Grand Engine'...or maybe 'Mike the Strong Engine'."

He was so busy thinking up titles that he didn't hear Control calling on his Driver's radio, "Mark, where are you and Mike right now?"

"We're out on the line right now," Mike's Driver answered, "we're on our way to collect ballast."

"You shouldn't be out on the line," Control said, "there's an uneven section of track on your line."

"But Mike said we got the all clear..." his Driver said, "he probably didn't hear Blister II correctly..." it was then they heard Blister I's horn, "Control, I'm going have to call you back later."

He went to apply the brakes, but Mike wouldn't respond.

" 'I think Mike the Grand Red Engine' would be perfect, that would show the others," Mike was thinking to himself.

"Come on Mike stop!" cried his driver who slammed on the brakes hard.

Mike heard his Driver at that point and Blister I's horn, but by then it was much too late. Mike's Driver jumped out while his engine rolled onto the uneven track, derailed and rolled into a muddy field.

"Yuck!" coughed Mike.

His Driver ran up to Mike and applied the brakes, "you wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't lost in your thoughts," his Driver said firmly. He got out his radio and call Control, "Mike's come off the line, I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't respond to me. Can you send help?"

"We can't right now, you'll have to wait for the Blister Twins to finish their work."

Mike groaned when he heard that, "do I feel foolish," he muttered quietly.

Blister II soon came with sacks of earth on his flatbeds, he was surprised to see Mike in the muddy field, "what are you doing there Mike? Didn't you hear my warning?"

"My guess would be no," said Blister I, "now let's get this line fixed, then we'll get Muddy Mike out of that field."

The work was soon completed in an hour, Mike was hoping to be put back on the tracks, but he was disappointed to hear that he was to stay in the field while work proceded, "the Small Controller will have a talk with him later," said Control over the radio to Mike's Driver, "you might want to get a ride back to the yards on the next train."

And that's what Mike's Driver did when Rex came by with a passenger train, "you know," Rex said thoughtfully, "this almost reminds me of when I had derailed - only this time it's you. Serves you right for not listening."

Rex chuckled as he puffed away, Mike just scolded under his breath.

It was late in the evening when Mike was towed off back to the sheds by Bert. The Small Controller was waiting for them, "not paying attention again huh Mike?" he asked sternly, the little engine didn't answer, he looked shame faced to his buffers, "next time, I hope you learn to listen, in the meantime, since it's late, Bert will shunt you into the shed and the men will wash you in the morning. Good night Mike." He turned and walked away.

_**Dan and the Rickety Troublesome Truck**_

The next morning, Mike was brought out of the shed by Blister I to where the angry cleaners were waiting for him, "you just love giving us more work to do don't you?" one of the cleaners asked angerily. They spent a long time cleaning him up, so long that Frank was sent off to collect the next ballast train.

Dan the small Little Western Diesel engine arrived by the chute with a few empty trucks, he gapsed when he saw Mike, "glory me Mike, what happened to you?"

"I'd rather not talk about it," Mike muttered quietly.

Douglas steamed up to Dan on the line next to his own, " 'ello there Dan, I see yer on ballast runs today. Just a litta warnin', be careful around yon green truck in yonder yards. He's known as Rickety, the spiteful litta thing lives up ta his name and he likes ta hold back on yon hills, as yoo'll soon see fer yerself. He's just as bad as yon S. was - so remember ta take care."

"Don't worry Douglas, I will," Dan said as he looked over to Rickety, who snarled back at the Little Western Diesel, "I'll do my best to keep him in order, or blow my engine trying."

Throughout most of the morning, Dan shunted the trucks under the chute until there was only one left to shunt - and that one truck was none other than Rickety! "Oi! Who's this little twerp?" Rickety asked rudely when he saw Dan coming over to collect him, "where are those two steaming clap traps?"

"Duck and Oliver are busy with passenger trains right now," Dan said firmly, "so I'll have to do. Now I would like to ask you to behave yourself or I will teach you to behave."

"You can try all you want silly little diesel," snickered Rickety, "but all your efforts will be a waste of time. Now buzz off, I want to play a trick on one of the steamers, maybe one of the scottish engines."

"You'll do no such thing!" Dan was still being firm with Rickety, "now come along, we've got work to do!"

"Fine," snorted Rickety. Dan rumbled forward and was coupled up to the green truck, then he towed him off to the chute. What Dan didn't know was that Rickety was already thinking of ways to make Dan's next journey to the big station a misery.

Once Rickety was under the chute, Frank shunted the last of the ballast trucks he brought up on top of the chute. Before long, Rickety was loaded to the top with ballast.

"Now remember, behave yourself!" Dan said firmly to Rickety. The silly green truck didn't reply back, he only smirked to himself.

Soon, Rickety was coupled up to the train, the guard blew his whistle and Dan rumbled away with his long train of ballast trucks. As they started away though, Rickety started to shake from side to side and made some of his ballast full out.

"Now I know why he's known as Rickety," Dan thought to himself, "looks like I got my work cut out for me."

Dan revved his engine and tugged hard on the couplings, "come on you lot, we don't want to be late!"

Just then, Dan and his Driver felt a tug coming from behind them. It was Rickety again, he had slipped on his brakes - on purpose.

"So, you're resorting to cheap tricks huh?" Dan asked angerily, "well it won't work on me. In case you don't know Rickety, I was taught to handle ballast trucks by Duck, Oliver and the Scottish twins - so I know how to deal with you."

Dan's Driver opened the throttle and Dan's engine roared loudly as he tugged at the couplings to keep the train in motion. The trucks tried hard to stop him, but he would not give up.

"Give up you silly little diesel!" shouted Rickety.

"I'll never give in to your stupidity," Dan shouted back.

Soon they reached the infamous hill Dan had stalled on during the blizzard. Dan was determined not to stop here again, "come on! Come on! Come on!" he roared and gave an all mighty jerk. The trucks groaned, but continued to hold their brakes on.

"Hold Back! Hold Back!" they giggled in their silly way.

"I can do this! I can do this!" Dan panted and roared his little engine even louder. Despite being a small diesel, Dan was able to keep the train going all the way to the top of the hill, "yes! I did it! I did it!"

"Well done boy!" shouted his Driver happily.

Using the weight of the trucks, Dan was able to roll on down the hill quicker than ever before and onwards to the big station. By now the trucks had worn themselves out, so they decided not to hold back anymore.

"You win," they panted, "we give up!"

"Not me!" snorted Rickety and began to hold back once again, "hold back, stop the silly little diesel! I'll win and this diesel will be blamed for the late delivery," he chuckled.

"Oh no you don't!" snapped Dan. He revved his engine once again and tugged hard on the coupling. Rickety's brakes groaned loudly as they slipped on the rails, causing sparks to fly away from them.

One of the trucks behind Rickety heard a bit of a bit of creaking sound and soon realised where it was coming from - it was coming from Rickety! "Ah Rickety, you might want to..."

"Be quiet back there!" Rickety shouted angerily, "I'm winning here, he's slacking as we speak."

This of course was not true, "I'm not slacking," he snorted angerily, "you'll never win! Now come on!"

He tugged hard aganist Rickety, which made the creaking sound groan louder than before. The other ballast trucks all shouted at Rickety to stop, but he would not.

"I think he might fall apart!" exclaimed Dan's Driver.

"Stop you silly truck!" Dan shouted, "otherwise you'll..."

It was far too late. Coming into the yards of Knapford, with his brakes still hard on, Rickety creaked and groaned louder than before, and then - he broke into several dozen pieces, the ballast he had been carrying fell out and spilled onto the tracks.

"Oh dear," Dan said quietly, "What will the Fat Controller say when he hears about this?"

When the Fat Controller was told of this incident, he went to speak to Dan. He wasn't cross at all, "I know it was not your fault Dan," he said kindly, "Rickety's always been a nuisance to the railway, well now I'll make sure he won't cause trouble for any other engine. I will however let you off with a warning and ask you not to break anymore trucks." Dan of course promised and watched as Donald took the remains of Rickety away to the scrap yards.

_**Terence to the Rescue**_

Terence is an old friend to everyone on the Island of Sodor, he's even helped engines who've gotten into serious predicaments as Thomas knows all too well. Although he has proved his reliablity over the years, there are some that just don't think he's useful at all. One of those few would be Duncan.

"Terence is loud, slow and too old," he snorted one day, "he should be retired."

Duke shot Duncan a firm look, "so from what you're saying Duncan, you rather see old machines retire, am I right? In case you've forgotten, we're all old engines, some of us are a little slower than others and there are a few who are loud at times..." he looked over to Sir Handel, who was still shaking from his recent ordeal at the quarry.

"Well I didn't mean all old machines," Duncan protested, trying hard to defend himself, "I just meant that old tractor, all he does is chug around a field looking pretty."

"That's not true Duncan," Skarloey said firmly, "I often see Terence hard at work ploughing the farmer's field, and from what I see, he's not sitting around looking pretty, he's actually being a useful tractor."

"You wouldn't like it if someone said that about you would you?" asked Rheneas.

Before Duncan could answer that question, the Thin Controller came up to the sheds with Rusty and Mr. Hugh, "before I give your jobs for the day," said the Thin Controller, "I need to ask all of you to be careful when you're out and about with your trains. Mr. Hugh and Rusty have found that there are some sections of track have been stolen."

"How can anyone steal track?" Ivo Hugh asked curiously.

"We don't know how they do it, but they do it. So as you go along with your trains, keep your eyes open for the vandals and watch out in case they've stolen anymore tracks."

The Thin Controller then turned to Duncan, "since Sir Handel is refusing to go down to the quarry - I don't know why," he looked over to Sir Handel, who looked very shamefaced, but still looking worried, "so you'll take the first empty train there and bring back a loaded one."

"Yes sir," grumbled Duncan, but he wasn't happy. Once the Thin Controller had given out the other jobs, Duncan puffed angerily away to collect the trucks.

He grumbled all the way down to the quarry, "I prefer pulling passenger trains," he said, "at least passengers behave themselves, unlike these silly trucks."

The trucks heard what Duncan said and were very cross, "watch yourself Duncan," they advised, "or we'll pay you out."

Duncan wasn't paying attention to the trucks, he was looking to a nearby field. He could see Terence ploughing the field. Terence had been on loaned to the farmer as his horses were under the weather.

"I still say he should be retired," Duncan puffed to himself.

"Hello Duncan!" Terence called, "lovely weather we're having don't you think?"

"I guess," Duncan muttered and continued on towards the quarry.

What he didn't know was that the vandals the Thin Controller was talking about were hiding in the nearby bushes, "alright boys, let's take these tracks next," said the leader of the group, "we should make a nice profit with this lot." The others agreed and went to work.

Duncan soon reached the quarry, he had shunted his trucks into place and then waited patiently while the trucks were being loaded up. While he waited, he shunted other trucks ready for Peter Sam to collect later.

"Passenger trains are better, passenger trains are better," puffed Duncan angerily.

At last his train was ready. He buffered up to the train and puffed away, still grumbling about Terence and about the trucks.

Before long, Duncan reached the part of the line that ran past the farm Terence was working at. He looked for Terence - he looked for so long that he didn't notice the line ahead...until it was too late! Duncan rolled off the rails and bounced on the hard packed ballast and ties.

"Oof!" Duncan groaned as he bounced like a ball.

Despite being shaken in the cab, Duncan's Driver was still able to apply the brakes, but they did little did good as Duncan rolled away from the track bed and stopped beside the muddy field.

"Bouncing Buffers," exclaimed Duncan, "What was that?"

His Driver got out to take a look, he soon found the answer, "it was those vandals again," he said, "they stole more tracks, that's why we derailed."

"Plus Duncan wasn't paying attention," added the fireman.

Duncan groaned quietly. Just then, they heard a whistle in the distance, it was Peter Sam. The fireman ran over to the whistle chain and blew loud and long.

Peter Sam heard the whistle and asked his crew to slow him down. It was a good thing too, cause they were coming up to the edge of the line. They stopped just in time, "bust my buffers," exclaimed Peter Sam, "where's the track?"

"How should I know?" Duncan grumbled, "now Peter Sam, can you do a little favour?"

"What's that?"

"Get me back on the tracks!" he shouted.

But Peter Sam couldn't get to Duncan, but Terence could. "Hello Duncan, I see you've run into a bit of trouble." Duncan said nothing, "tell you what, I'll give you a push to the line and then Peter Sam can pull you back onto the line."

"What? You..." Duncan was at a loss of words.

His crew agreed to give the idea a try. So once they had moved Duncan into position, Terence reserved until he was touching Duncan's buffers with his plow. Then slowly, inch by inch, Terence pushed Duncan towards the railway. At times, Terence would have to stop, adjust Duncan's position and then pushed him again. Duncan was embarrassed, "saved by an old tractor, the others will never let me hear the end of it!"

At long last, Duncan was close to the line - so once he was coupled up to Peter Sam, he was towed back onto the tracks.

"Thanks for your help Terence!" called Duncan's crew, "you were a great help!"

"Always glad to help a friend," Terence called back and watched the two engines puff away.

Duncan hadn't been badly damaged, so he was allowed back out to work an hour later. As for the vandals, they were soon caught and were told to work on the Skarloey railway as punishment - by order of the police. Duncan was of course right, the other engines would never let him hear the last of his recent accident or about what he said, "Terence did good for a machine that just sits around looking pretty, don't you think so Duncan?" Duncan pretended he hadn't heard.

**Author's Note:**

This story was deeply inspired by a real life event where a tractor pushed a truck down the road until it got to it's destination. When and where it happened is unknown.

_**The Unexpected Hero**_

On the evening before the 50th book party, Henry was coming into the works station with a passenger train. As he pulled to a stop, he spotted something moving about in the yards. At first he thought it was one of the works diesels, but when he saw it again, he soon realised it wasn't a diesel - it looked a steam engine.

Wendell pulled up with some trucks, he stopped right beside Henry, "sorry Henry," said Wendell, "but I can't let you see that just yet, it'll spoil the surprise."

"What surprise?" Henry asked.

"Well if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it? You'll just have to wait till tomorrow night - in the meantime, I suggest not telling anyone of what you saw here."

"Very well then," puffed Henry. His guard's whistle blew and Henry puffed away from the works station.

Once he was out of sight, Wendell backed over to the sheds while the 'surprise' was doing some last minute tests. Since they weren't going to the party, Wendell had already told Kristy and Toby of what the surprise was.

"I think the Fat Controller made a wise choice in this investment," said Kristy, "at least it will be working, unlike me."

"You'll get your chance soon," smiled Toby, "just be patient." Kristy sighed, she knew Toby was right.

The party itself was to be at the Wharf where the Skarloey Railway Engines met the big railway. In the early morning hours, Donald and Douglas arrived with flatbeds carrying three different engines. The first was Rex, the second was Mike and the third was Culdee.

"Ah Culdee," smiled Skarloey, "it's good to see you again, it's been quite a well since we last spoke."

"Indeed it has my friend," said Culdee happily, "I'm glad to see you're doing well...and what about those two?" he asked while looking over to Sir Handel and Duncan, who were sitting in the sheds.

"Oh they still get into trouble every now and then, but that story you told did put a little scare into them."

"Please don't say 'Scare'," quivered Sir Handel.

"Oh look," snickered Mike, "this engine is a scaredy cat! I wonder what would happen if said 'Boo!' "

"Watch it Mike," Rex said firmly, "remember what the Small Controller said, if you misbehave, then you will be left in the sheds for three weeks." Just hearing that made Mike subside into silence.

By noon, there were lots of engines gathered at the Wharf. Such engines were: Thomas, Adams, Henry, James, Oliver, Bear, Edward and Dan from the Big Railway and from the Skarloey Railway, the five engines there were; Skarloey, Ivo Hugh, Peter Sam, Sir Handel and Duncan.

"This is quite an amazing gathering of engines," said Dan, "I'm only sorry that Duck couldn't join us."

"Ah well," said Oliver, "someone had to stay behind and keep the Little Western running." Oliver looked ahead to find Adams in deep conversation with James, Thomas and Skarloey, he shot the South Western engine a dirty look.

On the Wharf, the Thin and Small Controllers, along with the Mountain Controller were waiting for the Fat Controller to arrive, "I wonder where he could be," said the Small Controller, "it's not like him to be late."

"Probably just had some last minute paper to take of," said the Thin Controller, "don't worry, he'll be here soon."

Henry in the meanwhile was still wondering of what the 'surprise' at the works station was, "Is it a real steam engine or one of those replicas with a diesel engine?" he thought to himself.

Not too far away, the Fat Controller was on his way. He held up by roadway work and now he was trying to make up for lost time. "I have a feeling that surprise will get to the party before I do," he thought to himself.

He soon rounded a corner. Up ahead he could see a police officer talking with a young man - a second later, he saw that the police officer was going to arrest the young man, but the youngster would not stay still. It looked like he was trying to escape. A few seconds later, he did.

"Please don't arrest me!" the young man cried.

The officer ran after the young man while calling on radio, "I need back up!" he cried, "I've got a runner!"

The Fat Controller could see that the officer needed help, so before reaching the top of the hill, he turned his car to the right, blocking the young man's path. Before the youngster could get around the car, the officer caught up and arrested the man. The Fat Controller waited till the officer got the man away from the car, then he drove off, "I'm sorry I can't stay!" he called, "but I'm already running late as it is."

Other officers came moments later, they were quite surprised to see that the officer had caught the young man, who was now in the back seat of his car, "some man drove his car in front of the little guy's path," said the officer, "blocking his path and allowing me to catch up with this youngster."

"Didn't the man stick around to give you his name?" asked a second officer.

"No he didn't, but that's okay," said the first officer, "I already know who it was..."

After a few minutes, the Fat Controller arrived at the Wharf, "I'm sorry I'm late," he said, "I was held up with roadway work and then...I'll explain later, we have to start the celebrations and then there's the surprise I told you about..."

"Don't worry about the surprise sir," said the Thin Controller, "I phoned the works and told them not to send it until you arrived."

"Very good." The Fat Controller stepped forward onto the stage and held up his hand for silence, everyone went quiet at once and the Fat Controller made a speech, followed the Thin and Small Controllers and even the Mountain controller. After the speeches, the Fat Controller spoke up, "we have been and always will be honored to be a part of this series and we all hope that it will go on for many, many years."

"Three cheers for the Railway Series!" cried James.

And before the Controllers could say a word, the crowds and engines started to cheer and loud, soon even the controllers started to cheer. The cheering didn't last long though as several police officers.

"Oh dear," thought Thomas, "I hope we're not in trouble again."

One of the officers stepped onto the stage and spoke to the Fat Controller, "earlier today, Sir Topham Hatt had helped us stop a criminal when he ran away from us," he then turned to the Fat Controller, "we would like to award you with this commendation, thank you for all your help sir."

"It was my pleasure," smiled the Fat Controller.

"What do you think of that?" Henry whispered to James, "our own Fat Controller is a hero."

The Fat Controller held up his hand for silence once more, "as you know, we borrowed Wilbert to help us with our work years ago, he did so good a job that we wanted to buy an engine like him and now..." he paused. A whistle was heard, followed by pistons pumping and a few seconds later, the green engine Henry saw pulled up to the Wharf, it did look like Wilbert "I would like you to meet our newest tank engine, named Michael!" Following that annoucement, everyone shouted, "Welcome to Sodor Michael!" and the cheering started again, and then the party began.

"Yep," smiled Michael, "I'm definetly going to like living here."

**Author's Note:**

The Fat Controller stopping the young man who ran from the police was based on a real life event. A police officer pulled over a man for poor driving and later had to arrest the man, but the young man escaped and started running away. He didn't get far as a pizza delivery man stopped his car in front of him, allowing the officer to catch up to the man and arrest him. When and where this happened is unknown.

**The End!**


	9. No 51 Michael the New Saddletank Engine

_**Michael the New Saddletank Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_In the previous book 'Celebration Engines', the Fat Controller revealed his surprise to everyone - the new saddletank engine named Michael. As you can guess, Donald and Douglas gave him a great welcome when he came. I'm sorry to say that the trucks did not. Because he had been out of service since his retirement on his old railway, he had forgotten how to manage the trucks properly, but thanks to some help from some of the other engines, he soon had those trucks under control - and remind them of who he is._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-First Day on the Job

-Tanks a Lot

-A Trick for a Trick

-Round Two

_**First Day on the Job**_

A few days after the celebration, Michael was taken along to the Little Western where he was to meet up with Donald for his first job, " 'ello," said Donald kindly, "yoo must be yon saddletank engine Oliver and Dan were mentionin'."

"Yep, that would be me, I'm Michael and you are Donald - or was it Douglas? I don't know."

Donald chuckled, "I knaw it's a litta hard tae tell the difference between Douggie and I," he said, "the best way fer yoo to tell the difference is ta look at yon nameplates and numbers on our tenders. Douggie is 10, and I'm 9."

"Okay I understand now. So what are we suppose to do first?"

"Yoo'll soon find oot, cause he'e comes yon inspector."

The inspector walked up to the two engines, "ah the Saddletank engine has finally arrived," he smiled, "we've been expecting you for quite some time youngster. Now today, you and Donald will be working with Dan to bring ballast from the chute to the Big station, the ballast is needed on the electric line near Culdee Fell."

Michael looked a little nervous, "it's been a long time since I last pulled trucks, I hope I can do a good job."

"Och, I'm sure yoo'll dae juust fine Michael," Donald said assuringly, "now let's get ta wurk." And so, the two engines puffed off to collect the ballast trucks.

Dan was already at the chute when the two engines arrived. They could see he was having trouble, as the trucks bumped back and forth as he shunted them one by one under the chute.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked kindly.

"Oh yeah no problem," Dan growled through his teeth, "it's pretty simple to keep them in order...excuse me a second," Dan revved his engine and bumped the trucks hard. They finally stopped their tricks and moved slowly into place smoothly.

"Yon trucks still givin' yoo trouble Dan?" Donald asked.

"Sadly yes, these trucks have gotten worse since Rickety's...accident," he muttered quietly, "so I advise both of you to be careful with this lot today. If you have to, bump them hard with all your strength."

"Will da, now Michael, let's get yon trucks."

"Ah sure," Michael said nervously, he wasn't so sure that he could keep the trucks in order.

When Donald and Michael arrived at the yards, they found the trucks sniggering and whispering to themselves, "we refuse to be moved," they complained, "we're comfortable right where we are."

"Ta bad," puffed Donald. He puffed forward and biffed some trucks, "we've got wurk ta do."

"We should have a saying if we should work or not if we don't feel like it," grumbled one of the trucks.

Donald rolled his eyes, "yoo got a lazy one in yon bunch," he whispered to Michael, "take care with yon truck Michael."

Michael gulped, "I'll try my best," he said as he advanced forward. "Okay, let's get you lot over to the chute. The electric line needs the ballast for their line."

As his Driver was coupling his engine to the trucks, the trucks started chatting to each other, "I see we've got a nervous engine here lads," one whispered, "let's make him a nervous _wreck_ if you know what I mean."

The other trucks all knew what that truck meant and agreed to give it a try. They giggled and chattered all the way to the chute, Michael and his crew heard nothing.

Michael shunted his trucks carefully under the chute just as Mike arrived, "ah I see you're helping with ballast work today," Mike said to the new engine while his Driver was uncoupling him from the trucks, "Well hopefully you'll do better than Oliver did on his first run."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"You mean you don't know the story? Oliver thought he could handle the trucks easily - but they proved him wrong when they pushed him down the turntable well."

Michael gulped, "really?" He looked at Mike nervously.

"Yep," Mike answered, "your ballast trucks are not like mine, they hardly ever cause trouble for me. That there is one of the reasons I like pulling ballast trains."

"Alright Mike, time to go," said his Driver, "we need to collect more ballast for the next train."

As Mike puffed away, he called out, "good luck! You'll need it." Just hearing that didn't help boast Michael's confidence.

Soon the trucks were all loaded with ballast. Michael puffed forwards, but they didn't move, "what's wrong?" he asked his Driver.

His Driver climbed down to take a look, "I don't believe this," he groaned, "the stupid trucks had slipped their brakes on." He and the fireman went along the train until all the brakes were off. "Alright, let's give this another try."

This time they had no trouble leaving, but they had plenty of trouble on the way there. The trucks would often hold back, nearly making Michael slip to a standstill.

"I hope I can handle the trucks," he puffed, "I hope."

The trucks giggled quietly to themselves, their plan was working.

Soon Michael reached the yards of the big station. He was instructed to leave his trucks in the siding until one of the main line engines could come collect them.

"Careful, easy does it," Michael puffed to himself, "I can do it! I can do it!"

He was halfway into the siding when it happened...

"Go on! On! On! On!" shouted the trucks, they pulled hard, making him slide into the siding at a dangerous speed. His Driver did all he could, but it did no good aganist the loaded trucks.

Worst still, they were coming up to the buffers at the end of the siding.

"Smash them! Smash them!" shouted the trucks again. And that's just what they did too. The guard jumped out of his brake van just in the nick of time as the van and the trucks smashed through the buffers! The van and some of the trucks tipped onto their sides, spilling the ballast everywhere.

"Ohh dear," groaned Michael, "this wasn't suppose to happen."

The yard manager walked over to see what had happened, he was cross, "you great clumsy engine! I asked you to shunt your trucks carefully into the sidings...yet, I come here to see that you've damaged the buffers and spilled half your cargo!"

"But sir...I..."

"I don't want to hear it! You will wait here while I phone for the breakdown train. I'll also be phoning the Fat Controller to inform about this," the yard manager shook his head, then he walked sternly away. Poor Michael.

_**Tanks a Lot**_

Douglas soon came with the breakdown train to help clear up the mess. Michael stood where he was, he was worried of what the Fat Controller would say when he arrived. He was due to find out as both the Fat Controller and the yard manager arrived, "there he is sir, the stupid engine that caused this mess."

"That will do sir," said the Fat Controller, "I will speak with Michael."

The Fat Controller walked up to the big saddletank engine, "sir, I'm sorry about this," he said nervously, "the trucks...they just pulled me straight towards the end of the siding, we tried to stop, but we just couldn't."

"Pah!" snorted the yard manager, "a likely story."

"That will do," the Fat Controller said firmly to him, "don't you have a job to do?" The yard manager said no more, he just walked away. The Fat Controller turned back to Michael, "Michael, when was the last time you dealt with trucks?"

"Ah...roughly fifty years sir," he answered.

"Hmm," pondered the Fat Controller, "fifty years since you last handled trucks huh? Maybe putting you into service right after your restoration was probably not a good idea."

"Then what are you going to do with me sir?"

"I'll send you to work at Edward's station for a while, both Edward and BoCo will teach everything you need to know about handling trucks. The Little Western Engines can handle the work without you for a while." He left to make the arrangements.

In an hour, the arrangements had been made. Michael was to go to Wellsworth in front of Henry's stopping passenger train, "do your best Michael and pay attention to all BoCo and Edward say to you," the Fat Controller said before they left.

"Yes sir," Michael said quietly, he felt like he had let the Fat Controller down.

The guard's whistle blew and the two engines set off for Wellsworth.

After arriving, Michael doubleheaded another train with BoCo all the way to the harbour where Edward was waiting, "hello there," he said kindly, "you're Michael am I right?"

"Yes that's me," Michael sighed, "the engine who crashed his train threw the buffers."

"A mistake anyone could make my young friend. Don't worry though, you'll get better with a little bit of practice and gained some knowledge."

"I certainly hope so," but he thought it only to himself.

Soon, Bill and Ben arrived with their train of hoods. 'Hoods' are china clay trucks full of dry clay, the wet clay goes in the tankers.

The china clay tankers are a rowdy bunch, they take no notice of their engine and they always go aganist the rules. Because of their carelessness, the tankers often cause various derailments with which engine or engines they are with. Bill, Ben, Edward and BoCo usually have to stay on their guard when dealing with these trucks.

Because of Michael's lack of knowledge of trucks, Edward thought it would be better if he practiced with the hoods, "I think that's a very good idea," Michael was saying to Edward, "with my luck, I'm sure I would derail just beyond the yards."

"You keep thinking you're going to fail, then you probably will. You need to believe that you can do it Michael, then you _will_ do it, don't forget that young engine."

"I won't...I'll do the best I can," he said with a small smile on his face, "and believe in myself." Edward was pleased to hear that.

Over the next few days, Michael helped out with the shunting work at the harbour. He listened carefully to all the instructions given and made sure to follow every rule. Everyone was impressed with him, except for the china clay tankers.

One day, the tankers were more rowdy than ever, it took both Bill and Ben to bring them down to the harbour, "stop being rowdy!" Ben shouted angerily to the tankers. The tankers just laughed and continued with their train.

They soon reached the harbour, red cheeked and all, "hello you two," said Michael, "oh my, you two look tired."

"Is it that obvious to see?" grumbled Bill sarcastically.

"We've been having nothing but trouble from the tankers," added Ben, "They're more rowdy than ever. BoCo is going have his work cut out for him."

The yard manager came forward, "BoCo is busy with another job," he said, "Michael., you'll have to take the tankers instead."

Michael's face showed a look of shock when he heard that, "Me? Take the tankers? But sir..."

"You're the only engine available, so please don't argue with me, couple up to those tankers and get them to Wellsworth."

"Ah...yes sir," Michael said nervously. He was uncoupled from the trucks he was shunting, then ran on ahead to change onto Bill and Ben's line.

After the twins had been uncoupled from their train, Michael backed down onto the snickering trucks, "hey boys, look who we have here! It's that nervous engine! The one who derailed his ballast train on his first day." The trucks started laughing, "he'll most likely derail us and then get sent away!"

This gave the tankers a naughty idea, "let's run him off the rails! Send him away!"

Michael of course heard nothing of this. Once coupled up to the tankers, Michael and his crew set off with the train of twelve full tankers. The journey went well at first, but just before they reached the passing loop, the tankers put their plan into motion, "now! On! On! On!" they shouted and surged forward into each other.

"Oh no, not again!" cried Michael, "stop! Please stop! Stop!" But the tankers didn't stop, they just continued pushing.

Michael was thrown into a panic, he thought for sure that he would crash with the tankers, "I can't do it, I'm going off the rails!" Then he remembered what Edward had told him a few days ago about believing in himself, "if I believe in myself, then I _can_ do it. Maybe it'll work to stop this runaway."

He spoke to his Driver, "open the reserver!" he shouted, "if we push back, we might be able to stop this train!"

His Driver didn't need telling twice, he opened the reserver while the fireman applied more steam into the boiler, "alright old boy, show them you're no pushover!"

Although he was still nervous, Michael was determined to stop an accident from occuring. He pushed hard aganist the trucks, "Give up silly engine, you are no match to us!"

Michael couldn't reply back, he was focusing too hard on stopping the train, "I will not...be beaten again..." he growled through his teeth.

He pushed and he pushed and he pushed - after a while, the train started slowing down. Good thing too cause Edward was coming into the passing loop with empty hoods. Thanks to Michael though, the train stopped before colliding with Edward's train.

"Whew," gasped Michael's Driver, "That was a near close call."

"Indeed," agreed Michael. He thought to himself, "Edward was right, if I believe that I can do something, then I _can_ do it."

_**A Trick for a Trick**_

Following the runaway incident, Michael's confidence started to grow greatly - whenever the trucks tried to cause trouble, he would show them that he was indeed no push over by bumping them hard, "no more tricks you trucks!" he said firmly, "try to push me off the rails and I will take action, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Michael, whatever you say Michael," the trucks quivered anxiously.

Edward and BoCo were certainly impressed with Michael, "he's come a long way from the nervous wreck that came into our yards," BoCo whispered to Edward one day.

"Indeed," agreed Edward, "all he really needed was some hands on experience, sort to speak."

Mostly everyone was impressed with Michael's skills of handling trucks, all that is except for the trucks themselves - especially one truck in particular.

It was an orange coal truck, it's name was Fred. He was a lot like Rickety and S., he considered himself to be a leader agmost the trucks and he liked to cause trouble for the engines. Whenever he was taken out of the yards, he would hold back and tell the other trucks to do the same - making each journey a misery.

The engines do their best to ignore him, but it wouldn't last too long, especially when he tried to break the rules for some fun.

One day BoCo was taking some trucks down to Edward's Branch Line, he was just about to roll down Gordon's hill. The journey from Vicarstown had been going quite well, until now. "I'm bored," grumbled Fred, "I want to have some fun."

"What do you suggest then Fred?" asked one of the trucks, "you are the leader."

Fred thought about it, then..."Push! On! On! On!" He surged forward and pushed aganist BoCo. As the other trucks reached the sloping track down the hill, they pushed too until all of them were pushing BoCo dangerously down the tracks.

"Stop it!" cried BoCo, "stop pushing!" but Fred and the other trucks took no notice, they continued pushing.

BoCo's Driver applied the brakes as hard as he could. Sparks showered from the brakes as BoCo tried to regain control. BoCo overshot the platform before gaining control and finally stopping the train.

"Hmm that was fun," said Fred, "but I need a little more excitment."

BoCo groaned, "I should've known he was up to something."

A little later, BoCo was shunting his trucks into a siding when Michael arrived with some of the tank wagons, "Hello BoCo, you look a little cross, whatever is the matter?"

"It's Fred," he answered.

"Who's Fred?"

"Fred is the orange truck behind me. He's alot like S. and Rickety put together. He likes to either hold back on any journey or push an engine down the hill just for the fun of it."

"Yikes, that sounds one nasty truck."

"He is indeed, I wish you good luck Michael, I know you'll have to deal with him today." With that said, BoCo rumbled away to get his tanks filled up.

When Fred saw Michael puffing up to collect the trucks, a smirk came across his face, "ah goody, a chance to have some fun. Once we're out of the yards, hold back and make him struggle."

The trucks giggled and passed the word down to the others. As he was being coupled up to the trucks, Michael overheard some chatter coming from the trucks, "uh oh, they're planning something devious again," he thought to himself, "I better be on my guard then, just like Edward and BoCo said."

When all was ready, the guard blew his whistle and Michael puffed out of the yards with his train of trucks.

They were hardly out of the yards when the trucks started to play their tricks, "hold back! Hold back!" they cried, the loudest shouts were coming from Fred of course.

"I had a feeling they would do that," groaned Michael.

"Hey Fred," one of the other trucks called, "do you know who this engine is? He's that nervous wreck the ballast trucks are all talking about. He's a real pushover."

"Oh he is huh...hey, you just gave me an idea, let's really push him over!" The other trucks agreed to the idea, "we'll do it at the harbour."

Michael overheard their plan, "BoCo wasn't kidding when he said that Fred was going to be troublesome. Well this time his plan isn't going to work, I have an idea on how I can stop this trickery."

At the passing loop, he explained his plan to his crew while waiting for Donald to pass with the loaded hoods, "I'm not enterily sure if this plan of yours will work Michael," said his Driver, "but I guess anything's work a try."

They soon reached the harbour only two minutes behind the timetable. After being uncoupled, Michael was moved out of the way and taken off to the water tower, or so the trucks thought. He was really going to the back of the train.

"I thought we were going to push him over," snapped one of the trucks, "why aren't we doing that?"

"We're going to do when he comes back to shunt us," said Fred, "just be patient."

"Just be patient he says," sniffed one of the other trucks, "I don't want to wait around here forever, I want to push an engine off the quayside now!"

"Then why don't you?" suggested a cheeky voice somewhere from behind him, "I think I just heard the engine come back for this train."

"Are you sure?" the truck asked.

"Would I lie to a fellow truck?" the cheeky voice asked. "He's right behind us, we can pull him into the sea," Michael's whistle could heard from behind the trucks, "you know what to do!"

"We sure do!" snickered the truck, "alright lads, push on!"

"What the..." Fred was taken by surprise as the whole train started moving, "stop it! I didn't say go!" But again the trucks took no notice. They kept on pushing, much to Fred's dismay, "Stop! Stop! That pushover engine isn't in front of the train, he's behind us!" By the time the trucks heard, it was much too late - Fred was pushed past the edge of the quayside siding and pushed him into the sea.

"Opps," groaned the trucks, "I don't think that was suppose to happen."

Fred growled crossly, "who was the idiot that said to start pushing when that pushover engine wasn't in front of us?" None of the other trucks answered that question.

When the dockyard manager heard, he called for Edward and the breakdown train to lift the trucks back onto dry land. Again, Fred asked the trucks of who told them to push the train when Michael was at the back, "I heard it from a fellow truck, who sounded alot like you," said one of the trucks, "he said we should pull him into the water."

"Something must be wrong with your hearing," said another truck, "I heard nothing."

"Now that you mention it," said a third truck, "I heard the same voice say that to our pal here, but who said that, I just don't know."

Once the trucks were back on the rails, Edward and Michael worked together in shunting the trucks into the sidings. Fred was still grumbling as he was shunted into place, "how did my plan fall into pieces, how?" he grumbled.

"Looks like you became the pushover today," said the same cheeky voice from before, "I hope you've learned a lesson today. Like to never play tricks on an engine again."

Fred seethed right where he stood and looked all around to find the truck who said that, but could only see Michael shunting. Of course, we all know who really said that don't we?

_**Round Two**_

A few days after the incident with Fred, the Fat Controller arrived at Wellsworth Station to see Michael, "I heard that you've been doing quite well here Michael," he said, "I even heard you were able to prevent a runaway, that's quite impressive."

"Thank you sir," Michael smiled, "I owe a great deal to both Edward and BoCo for their help into reminding me how to handle the trucks."

Both Edward and BoCo smiled when they heard that, "I'm very glad to hear that," smiled the Fat Controller, "and now that you know how to handle the trucks again, you can go back to work with Donald and Douglas again, they need your help."

"Say no more, just name where I need to go and I'm on my way."

"Just go to the big Station at Knapford, the Stationmaster will tell you what to do."

Edward and BoCo both blew a 'good luck' salute with their whistle and horn, "tell Bill and Ben that I said good bye too," Michael called as he departed, "oh and tell them to stay out of trouble!"

Both engines chuckled quietly, but promised to pass on the message. But still, they were a little sad to see Michael go - and truth be told, so was Michael.

His smile soon returned though when he reached the big station and found Donald waiting in the yards, "och are me eyes decievin' me oor is that Michael I see?"

"Your eyes are not deceiving you Donald," Michael smiled, "It's really me, I'm back and ready to help you and Douglas."

"Its good ta see ya back, both Douggie and me have been rushed oof our wheels with all the wurk we've been doin'."

"Well don't worry, I'll help ease that backlog off your buffers for sure." The Stationmaster came out to speak with Michael's crew, then he went away, "what did he have to say?" Michael asked.

"He wants us to take those vans full of supplies down to the Little Western along with the empty ballast trucks," said the Driver, "those vans are full of supplies needed to fix the tunnel roof."

"Och yes," said Donald, "we've been havin' nothin' but trouble when going threw that muckle tunnel. Take care as ya go Michael, I dinna knaw how unstable that tunnel is."

"Thanks for the warning Donald," said Michael, "we'll take extra care in that tunnel."

It wasn't long before Michael had coupled up to the vans, then he went to collect the ballast wagons. Sadly, some of the trucks in his train were the same ones that had pulled him right into the buffers on his first day of work.

"Oh look who's back," snickered one of the trucks, "it's the nervous wreck, what do you say we make another wreck and let him take the blame?" The other trucks agreed and planned their silly trick.

Michael and his crew heard nothing, but unlike last time, they were on their guard to make sure nothing went wrong this time.

The journey along the way was smooth as butter, but that wasn't going to last for too long as they reached the tunnel. The trucks decided to carry out their plan inside the tunnel, "we'll trap him in there and the Fat Controller will have no choice but send him packing for destorying a tunnel," snickered the stupid trucks. They waited till they were inside, then..."Now push! On! On! On!" they cried.

They surged into Michael, but this time he was ready, "slam on the brakes and open the reserver!" he cried to his Driver.

His Driver did what Michael said, he applied the brakes at first, then slammed on the reserver. Michael put every ounce of his strength aganist the trucks until they came to a stop halfway inside the tunnel.

Then it happened, there was a loud rumble coming from above them, "Silly engine," snickered the trucks, "you might've stopped us from derailing you, but we still succeeded in bringing the tunnel down on you."

One of the vans spoke up, "you didn't think your plan threw did you?" It asked, "we're still in the tunnel with him and..."

"The roof will crash down on us!" cried the ballast wagons in pure panic, they screamed loudly, "we don't want to be crushed!"

Michael however didn't go into a panic, "if you don't want to be crushed, then I suggest you don't hold back and just hang on tight." The trucks promised and immediately let go of their brakes, "alright then, full steam ahead, let's get out of here!"

The Driver didn't need telling twice, he opened the regulator as wide as he could. Michael started slowly, but his speed picked up, but unfortantly, the loud noise he was making echoed in the tunnel, making more rocks fall down, some of which banged on his boiler, "we will get out of here, we will get out of here!" he cried with determination, "we will not get trapped in here!"

Thanks to Michael's determination, he managed to get himself and the trucks out of the tunnel. Just in the nick of time too, cause just as the brake van emerged from the tunnel, the roof caved in and almost every piece of rock landed on the rails behind Michael's train. Luckily though, everyone was okay, just a little shaken from the ordeal.

Michael spoke firmly to the ballast wagons, "now do you see how dangerous your tricks can be? We could've been seriously hurt had we not reacted quickly."

"Yes Michael, sorry Michael. We'll be good, we promise."

"I sure hope that you will keep true to your words, cause if you don't, then having a few rocks fall on top of you will be the least of your troubles, if you know what I mean."

The trucks did know and promised not to try anymore tricks like that again.

After reaching the yards, Michael's crew informed the Fat Controller of everything that had happened. Donald, who could not reach the Little Western, brought down workmen and supplies from Knapford while either Oliver or Michael brought supplies and workmen from the Little Western.

The tunnel was soon repaired in a week, which meant Donald could join the other engines. The Fat Controller was also was him, "well Michael, I have to admit that I am beyond impressed with you. When you first came here, you were so nervous that in a situation with the trucks, you went into a panic. Now look at you, you acted bravely in an emergency and because of that, only a few dents were made and no one was hurt. I am very pleased with you."

"So are we," said Donald and Douglas in unison.

"I'm very glad we bought you Michael, you have proven yourself to be a really useful engine and a perfect partner for Donald and Douglas."

"Thank you very much sir," Michael smiled, "I'm very proud to be working on such a fine railway and alongside such amazing engines. I promise you that I will always do my best and never let any of you down."

"I know you won't," smiled the Fat Controller.

Michael is now a happy engine, he works happily alongside Donald and Douglas and often journeys across the Island whenever one of the twins is busy and ever since that tunnel incident, it's become very rare to see the trucks ever play a trick on Michael again.

_**The End!**_


	10. No 52 The Thin Controllers Spring Engine

_**The Thin Controller's Spring Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_Spring has returned to Sodor and with it means more work for the engines, especially those at the Skarloey Railway. There were so many passengers that the Thin Controller allowed Ivo Hugh to help, but Agnes and one rude passenger didn't really help him with his nervousness. Sir Handel and Fred also got themselves into some misadventures of their own and Peter Sam...well, you'll just have to read to find what happened to him._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Bad Behaviours

-Fred On the Loose

-Whistle Trouble

-Peter Sam & the Storm

_**Bad Behaviours**_

"You mean I can finally passenger trains sir?" Ivo Hugh asked the Thin Controller one spring morning.

"Yes Ivo Hugh," said the Thin Controller, "The Owner and I have agreed that it's finally time to give your first test run with the passenger trains. Given into account of all the excellent work you've done with the goods trains, we feel that you are ready for it. So tomorrow, you will be taking Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice."

"Oh thank you sir," smiled Ivo Hugh.

That night, he told the other engines the good news, "good for you Ivo Hugh," smiled Peter Sam, "but still, it makes me wonder why they waited sixteen years before giving your first passenger run."

"Maybe they were worried that he would make a mistake and get the passengers cross with the railway," snickered Fred.

"I have to agree with Fred on this one," said Sir Handel, "Ivo Hugh is the youngest out of all of us, I have to agree that he might make a mistake like pulling out of the station too soon."

"Oh really?" Peter Sam raised an eyebrow, "says the engine who thought his guard had blown the whistle and took off without checking first and one who wasn't keeping a good out on his first passenger run."

Sir Handel went silent.

"Don't pay any attention to them Ivo Hugh," Skarloey said kindly, "you'll do just fine on your first run. Just remember to puff carefully and smoothly."

"I will, thanks for the advice Skarloey."

Little did anyone know of the trouble Ivo Hugh would have the following next day...

When morning came, Ivo Hugh was taken to the coach sheds where the coaches were waiting, "hello Ivo Hugh," said Lucy, "are you going to be taking us out today?"

"I am," he answered, "the Owner and the Thin Controller said that I'm ready to pull the passenger train."

"No thank you, I don't want you pulling us!" snapped a voice from inside the coach shed. The voice was coming from Agnes, who was in a foul mood this morning. She was suppose to have been given a new coat of paint like the other coaches last night, but the painters never painted her. They worked late into the night and were feeling tired, "I refuse to be pulled by an inexperienced engine and while I haven't been painted."

Jemima just sighed and spoke kindly to Ivo Hugh, "don't pay any attention to her, she's always been like this, even when Skarloey was new."

Agnes continued to grumble and complain, but Ivo Hugh payed no attention and was soon coupled up to the coaches. He pulled smoothly to the station where the passengers were waiting, he was careful as he slowed to a stop.

"So far so good," smiled his Driver, "just rememember, stay calm throughout the journey Ivo Hugh and we'll be fine."

"Right, I'll remain calm," he said.

Ivo Hugh waited patiently as the passengers boarded the coaches. At last it was time to go, the guard got out his whistle to blow it when he heard someone shouting. He lowered his whistle and looked to see a man wearing a big coat running up to the train, "I payed for this ride, I am not missing it just because you want to leave in a hurry."

"Ah sir we...oh never mind," groaned the guard, "get into Agnes and we'll be on our way."

The man mumbled something under his breath and then climbed into Agnes. When the last door banged, the guard blew his whistle and climbed back in Beatrice as Ivo Hugh started out of the station.

Ivo Hugh ran perfectly along through the countryside, his steam preasure was perfect, he never went too fast and he gave the passengers a smooth ride. Even so, Agnes continued to grumble and complain about not getting her new coat of paint, "I want my new paint, I want my new paint!" she grumbled, "I want to go back to the sheds! If I don't, then I'll stop this train."

The other coaches and Beatrice just rolled their eyes, they had heard this kind of talk from Agnes before.

"She would never do that," Ruth whispered to Lucy, "she knows better than that."

"Indeed," agreed Lucy, "she's just upset because the painters didn't paint her last night."

Agnes never did stop the train or hold back, that was...until they passed the Middle Station. They hadn't gone far before they heard a loud bang and heard glass shattering, this was followed by, "That's it!" Within seconds, the brakes came on hard and the train came to an abrupt hault.

"What happened?" cried Ivo Hugh.

"I don't know," said the Driver, "but we'll find out..." before he could climb out of the cab, there was a bump from behind.

"Oof!" cried Ivo Hugh, "what happened now?"

The Driver climbed down from the cab and walked up to Beatrice, "what happened? What caused us to stop?"

"I'm not sure," he said, "either one of the passengers pulled the emergency cord or one of the brakes on one of the coaches is faulty. I'm going to find out." The guard jumped down from his van and went from coach to coach to find out what happened.

When he climbed into Agnes, he found several passengers restraining the man with the big coat, "this man smashed the window with this," one of the passengers was holding onto a metal pole, "but we don't know what stopped the train."

Then they heard Agnes grumbling, "first I don't get my new coat of paint and now a vandal breaks my window! I refuse to move another inch until my window is fixed and I get my new paint!"

"Well that answers your question," said the guard, "thank you anyways for keeping this man from causing anymore damage. I'll take him to Beatrice and keep him there until we get to the next station." The Driver and the guard took the man over to Beatrice and phoned the police to meet them at the next station.

The Driver returned to the cab, "Agnes and that man with the coat is what stopped us," he said, "now Agnes is refusing to let go of her brakes. We'll just have to pull hard to the next station where the police will meet up with us and at the same time, we can shunt Agnes off the train. Just do your best boy."

"I'll try sir," he said nervously.

It was hard going at first, Agnes was stubborn and kept her brakes hard on, but still Ivo Hugh kept on puffing. His face was going as red as his paintwork, but he never gave up and soon he reached the next station where the police were waiting, "we'll take care of him now," said an officer, "you can continue on your way."

"We will," said the Driver, "after we deal with an unruly coach."

Agnes continued to hold her brakes hard on, which made the shunting all the more difficult for Ivo Hugh, but at last he got Agnes in the siding and puffed away with the other coaches, trying hard to make up for lost time.

"I won't let them down, I won't let them down," he puffed to himself.

Ivo Hugh did his best and soon reached the last station only five minutes late. He had no time to rest though, he still had to take the passenger train back to the station where the Skarloey Railway meets with the Fat Controller's Railway. Henry was already there, waiting for Ivo Hugh's passenger train.

The Thin Controller was pacing back and forth on the platform, he looked at his watch, "Two minutes late," he thought to himself, "I wonder if something came up..."

Just then, he heard a whistle in the distance. The Thin Controller looked and saw Ivo Hugh, puffing and panting into the station.

The passengers came out to speak with the Thin Controller, they told him everything that happened and they told him that they were impressed with Ivo Hugh's determination. When they had finished, the Thin Controller walked up to Ivo Hugh while the passengers climbed into Henry's train.

"I'm very impressed with you Ivo Hugh, despite the bad behaviour of a troublesome man and Agnes having a fit, you continued on regardless to get the passengers to their destinations."

"Well I tried my best sir," panted the new little engine, "I didn't want to let you or the railway down."

The Thin Controller smiled, "and you didn't, you did a good job today. I think you are more than ready to pull passenger trains."

"Oh thank you sir," smiled Ivo Hugh, but then his smile vanished, "but what about Agnes sir? She's still sitting in that siding."

"We'll leave her there for now, we'll deal with later. For now, she needs some time to think about her reckless actions."

_**Fred On the Loose**_

It was nightfall by the time Agnes was brought back to the yards by Skarloey, who had scolded her on the way back. After shunting the old coach into the workshops, Skarloey puffed back to the sheds, only to find Mr. Hugh looking grim while looking at Rusty's engine. "Rusty's going to be out of action for a while," he said to the Thin Controller, "his engine needs a complete overhaul."

"Well in that case, I'll assign Fred to do Rusty's jobs until Rusty is ready to come back to work," the Thin Controller turned his attention to Fred, "which means tomorrow, you'll be taking the weedkiller train."

Fred groaned quietly, but didn't argue aganist the Thin Controller's orders.

After the Thin Controller and Mr. Hugh had left, Fred started complaining about taking the weedkiller train, "why can't anyone else take the weedkiller train? Maybe Sir Handel or Duncan."

"Sorry but the answer is no," said Duncan, "I'm working at the quarry tomorrow."

"And I'm taking passengers tomorrow," said Sir Handel, "so I wouldn't have time to take the Weedkiller train. Now quit your complaining and do as you're told and go to sleep.

Fred snorted crossly and went unhappily to sleep.

The next morning, Fred set off with the weedkiller train. He grumbled about the slow pace he was going, "I hope Rusty is repaired soon," he grumbled, "I hate pulling the weedkiller train."

His attitude didn't improve when he had been diverted into a siding to allow Sir Handel to pass with a passenger train.

"Hey Fred, I think you missed a spot back there," he called cheekily.

"Oh shut up Sir Handel!" Fred snapped back.

"Now, now," soothed his Driver, "Sir Handel was only kidding. Now come on, we better get back to work."

And still grumbling, Fred rumbled off back to work. With each turn of his wheels, he wished more than ever that he could go a little bit faster...little did he know that his wish would soon come true.

After a while, he and his Driver finally arrived at the Middle station, "okay Fred, I'm going to park you in a siding while I go get something to eat."

So once Fred had been parked in the siding, the Driver headed off to get something to eat, "I won't be long Fred," he said to his diesel and he walked away.

Fred groaned quietly and decided to have a little nap while waiting. It would've been better if he didn't.

A nearby station worker saw Fred resting in the siding and a thought came into his head. He thought it would be fun to drive an engine for a bit. He left his job and walked over to Fred, then he climbed up to the Driver's seat. "Now how do you drive this thing?" he asked himself. He fiddled around with the controls for a bit until he finally found the throttle - he opened it wide, too wide.

Fred started with a rude jerk. The man lost his balance and fell into some bushes, "ow!" he groaned.

The sudden jerk woke Fred with a start, "Oh joy, I guess it's back to work huh?" But there was no reply from his Driver. It was only then that Fred realised...there was no one in his cab, "HELP!" he shierked, "Help me!"

Fred's Driver had just returned and was in horror when he saw Fred leaving on his own.

Quickly, he dropped his lunch and ran after Fred, but it did no good - not with the throttle wide open. Fred rumbled out of the siding and back out onto the main line.

"Whoever opened that throttle is going to have me to answer to," grumbled the Driver.

"Never mind that now," said the Stationmaster, "we need to warn all the other stations before a serious accident occurs."

The Driver agreed and followed the Stationmaster into his office where they phoned down the line, "clear all the lines, the weedkiller train is now a runaway. I repeat clear all the lines!"

Fred rattled along the line with flying wheels, he had orginally wanted to go fast, but now he wanted to slow down to a safe stop.

"Someone help me!" Fred shouted in pure panic.

At the next station, Ivo Hugh and his passenger train had been diverted onto a siding. He wondered why, that was until he saw Fred rattle past.

The news soon reached the Thin Controller's office, "what's that? Fred and the weedkiller train are a runaway?" he gasped in shock over the news he was getting on the other end of the phone. "There's nothing we can do but wait until Fred has run out of fuel I'm afraid, just make sure all the lines are clear for him."

Luckily all lines had been cleared so Fred had a clear run ahead, but he now wished he hadn't.

Fred rattled on down the tracks at the speed he was going until he finally came to a smooth stop out on the main line. He sighed with relief, but then, "how am I going to get back to the yards?"

The answer soon came when Duke arrived, "good thing the station staff suggested we come out looking for you," he said to Fred, "otherwise we'd be stuck out here all night."

Fred said nothing. Duke's Driver coupled the old engine up to the diesel, then Duke towed him to the next station.

After arriving at the next station, Duke's Driver called ahead to the Thin Controller to report an 'all clear' signal. Shortly after that, all the engines went back to work.

After Peter Sam passed with his goods train, Duke towed Fred all the way back to the Middle station where they found the Stationmaster, Fred's Driver and the Thin Controller waiting for them, also with them was the foolish worker.

"Thank goodness this situation didn't end in disaster," sighed Fred's Driver, "Right?" he asked the foolish worker angerily.

"Yes," he groaned, "I'm sorry everyone and you too Fred, I just wanted to drive a diesel just once."

"Well you won't be doing that for a while," scolded the stationmaster, "you're going back to doing your job and should I ever catch you trying to climb into an engine's cab, then I will fire you. Understood?"

"Yes sir," the worker groaned quietly and walked away to do his work.

The Thin Controller spoke to Fred next, "once your tanks are filled up, I would like you to pull the weedkiller train all the way to the last station." For once, Fred didn't groan about the idea. He thought the idea of going slow was a great idea, as long as his Driver was at the controls of course.

**Author's Note:**

This story was inspired by the real life event of a 'New' Iron Runaway. Someone was fiddling around with the controls, because of this, the diesel rolled on down the tracks all alone without a driver or anyone else in the cab. The diesel was finally able to stop after it ran out of fuel and was towed back to the yards.

_**Whistle Trouble**_

_**Based on the Annual Story by: Christopher Awdry**_

"I want a rest," fumed Sir Handel just a day after Fred's runaway incident, "Passengers, they think we have nothing better to do than to take them from place to place."

"Well Sir Handel, you could always take over the goods work again," Duncan teased, "just don't run away screaming again."

"Oh shut up Duncan," snapped Sir Handel, he didn't like to be reminded of the time he got scared at the quarry.

Peter Sam spoke up, "Passengers are important to our railway Sir Handel. Without them, our line would close down after a while, just our old railway did." Duke was quick to agree on that subject.

Sir Handel was not convinced and puffed away to collect his coaches.

"First he complains that he's not pulling passenger trains and now he's complaining that there are too many passengers," said Duncan, "can't he make his mind already of what he really wants?"

Sir Handel puffed crossly to the coach yards, where he buffered up to Millicent and Gertrude. Before he puffed away though, a yard worker asked him to take some other coaches, "But why?" Sir Handel asked, "I never usually take those cattle vans with my boogie wheeled coaches."

"Never say never Sir Handel," said the yard worker, "besides it's the Thin Controller's orders, there are alot of passengers waiting at the platform, so you'll need those extra coaches."

Sir Handel took Millicent and Gertrude to another siding where the other coaches were waiting, he bumped them crossly. "Be careful Sir Handel!" shouted his Driver, "You can't bump those coaches like they were trucks."

Sir Handel said nothing, he just fumed away to the station.

As he pulled up, he noticed something...a small bolt holding the top part of his cab had come loose, Sir Handel could feel it wobbling. This gave him an idea, "hmm, if I rock and roll as much as I can," he said to himself, "I can shake my cab bolt loose, then I shall have to rest while it's being mended."

And so, that's what he did. He bumped and bounced as he puffed along, "careful boy!" shouted his Driver, but Sir Handel payed no attention.

When the workday was done, Sir Handel was taken back to the sheds where his crew checked him over, but they could find nothing wrong with him, "I can't understand it," said the fireman, "we've checked him all over, but we can't find anything wrong with him."

The Driver was also stumped. "I'll mention that bad bit of track to Mr. Hugh, but I'm starting to think that Sir Handel might be up to something."

"Like that time with the firebars," muttered the fireman quietly, "we'll have to keep a close eye on him tomorrow."

After dropping the fire, the Driver and fireman headed for home. Sir Handel was fuming, "bother, I thought for sure it would come popping out, oh well," he sighed to himself, "I'll have to try again tomorrow."

The following next day, Sir Handel bounced and bumped about while taking the coaches, "For sure this will work, for sure this will work," he puffed cheerfully to himself.

"Steady Boy! Steady!" shouted his Driver, but Sir Handel still payed no attention.

At the Middle Station, Sir Handel nearly derailed on a set of points, "be careful there Sir Handel," shouted the fireman, "I nearly fell out of the cab!"

Sir Handel didn't respond back, he continued on with his plan in hopes that he would break that cab bolt right off. His chance came at the next set of points. As he bounced over them, he finally broke the cab bolt right off.

The Driver quickly applied the brakes and brought Sir Handel to a stop.

"Well that's torn it," said the fireman, "that last bounce has damaged the cab."

"Oh dear," said Sir Handel sweetly as though as he hadn't done something wrong, "what can we do now?"

"We're going to the Top Station, we can't keep the line blocked for too long," said the Driver firmly, "this will serve you right for bumping and banging about."

Sir Handel started again, fuming crossly. As he puffed along though, something unusual happened...

Ivo Hugh was waiting in the loop at the Top Station for Sir Handel to come into view. As he waited, he heard a strange noise, it sounded as though an engine was trying to whistle, but couldn't, "that sounds like Sir Handel," Ivo Hugh thought to himself, "but he doesn't usually whistle like that."

It _was_ Sir Handel as he came into view. When he shook his cab bolt loose, the top part of his cab got caught on the chain for his whistle, and when he ran over a rail joint, the cab would rattle and as a result, would give a 'peep' each time.

Ivo Hugh was trying hard not to laugh, but his crew didn't bother to try, they laughed until they cried. Sir Handel said nothing, he was fuming.

Thoughout the rest of the day, Sir Handel didn't make a single sound, but his whistle did. Everytime he rolled over a rail joint, his cab rattled even more and he whistled. People came by the dozens to see what was going on, Sir Handel did not enjoy this.

Later that evening, Sir Handel returned to the sheds and his crew went to work in repairing the cab.

"We're sorry we laughed at you earlier," apologized his Driver, "but you have to understand that the crosser you got, the more you rattled and you rattled, the more you whistled."

"Well you don't have to worry about whistling like that again Sir Handel," said the fireman, climbing down from the top of the tank, "we've fixed your cab and given you a new bolt too, so hopefully this won't happen again...as long as you behave yourself."

"And please no more bouncing or banging about," added the Driver, "otherwise the Thin Controller will have a few words with you."

Sir Handel promised to be more sensible. His plan, he decided, hadn't worked quite as well as he had hoped.

_**Peter Sam & the Storm**_

One afternoon, the Thin Controller came to the sheds to speak with Peter Sam, "a group of railway enthusiasts are coming to see our railway today and I would like you Peter Sam to take them."

Peter Sam was thrilled, but Duncan and Sir Handel weren't, they snorted crossly under their breath.

"Have a good time out today Peter Sam, but be careful, I hear we're suppose to get a huge thunderstorm tonight." After giving the other engines their jobs, the Thin Controller walked away back to his office.

"I don't think it's right," snorted Sir Handel, "I'd be a much better choice of engine than Peter Sam, I was an express engine on the old railway."

"Maybe so," Duncan puffed cheekily, "but you're not on your old railway anymore. Besides, we all know what happens when you take passengers, you either give them bumpy rides or damage yourself."

Sir Handel snorted crossly while Duncan laughed. Peter Sam's crew checked their engine all over, then they took him over to the coach yards where they were to collect the old coaches. Agnes by now had been fixed and had calmed down following her little mishap and was more than glad to go back to work.

Peter Sam soon reached the junction where Gordon was waiting with the railway enthusiasts. All the passengers gathered around and took plenty of pictures of Peter Sam and his train. The guard had to shoo them to the coaches before they could leave. Finally though, the enthusiasts were on board and Peter Sam puffed away.

"Come along dears," he puffed gently, "let's give these visitors a grand time out."

The coaches happily agreed and rolled on smoothly behind Peter Sam. Throughout the entire morning, Peter Sam gave the enthusiasts a grand time out. They stopped at some of the best locations on the Skarloey Railway and stayed a bit to allow the visitors to take pictures of the area. They also slowed down when they passed other engines, this allowed the enthusiasts to either take pictures or videos of the engines.

At the Middle Station, the enthusiasts got out to take photographs. The fireman looked up and saw dark grey clouds begin to roll in, "we're definetly going to have a spring shower," he said, "we might have a bit of trouble on the way back. I'm going to load up the sanding bucket just to be on the safe side."

"Good thinking," said the Driver.

The fireman soon returned, just as the guard blew his whistle. Peter Sam started slowly away from the station, as he did so, he felt the first few raindrops begin to fall down onto his boiler.

As the journey progressed, the raindrops became heavier and heavier and soon they were beating down hard on Peter Sam's boiler.

They soon reached the last station, not many enthusiasts climbed out of the coaches this time, not even to watch Peter Sam move to the other side of the train.

The journey back was difficult, Peter Sam's wheels often slipped on the rails and the fireman had to get out, placing some sand on the rails.

"Good thing I got my coat of paint a few days ago," grumbled Agnes, "otherwise it would be ruined by the rain." The other coaches payed no attention.

The rain continued to beat down hard, making it difficult for Peter Sam's crew to see properly.

At some locations, the fireman would have to pour the sand on the rails twice before Peter Sam got a good grip, "I'm definetly going to catch a serious cold after today's outing," he said as he climbed back into the cab.

Soon though, the sand bucket was completely empty and what bad timing too as Peter Sam reached the hill before the Middle Station. Worst still, there was very little sand on the rails.

"Peter Sam will probably struggle on the way up," said the fireman, "we'll have to call for one of the other engines."

"We can't," said the Driver, "They're all too busy with their own jobs, besides I'm sure they'll probably have trouble reaching us. We'll just have to continue on alone. What do you say Peter Sam?" he asked, turning to his engine, "Do you think you get us home?"

"I'll give it a good try," said Peter Sam, "if Rheneas could do it, so can I."

It was hard work getting up that hill, Peter Sam's wheels often slipped on the wet rails, but through determination and what little sand was on the rails, Peter Sam soon reached the top of the hill and down the other side.

"Well done old boy," cheered the crew, "we knew you could do it!"

"Well done Peter Sam!" cheered the coaches and once again this included Agnes, "you were grand!"

Peter Sam was out of breath to reply back, so he just smiled to the coaches. The rest of the journey was easy going and soon, arriving five minutes behind schedule, Peter Sam reached the junction where Edward was waiting to collect the passengers.

The enthusiasts came out of the coaches to thank Peter Sam and his crew, "despite the troubles you had on the way back," they said, "you managed to get us home. You are a grand little engine, we'll be sure to tell our friends about you and your lovely railway."

Again Peter Sam just smiled, he had very little puff to answer back.

Once he had enough steam, Peter Sam took the coaches back to the carriage sheds, then he puffed back to the sheds where most of the other engines were waiting to hear about his outing. Of course Sir Handel and Duncan pretended not to listen, but soon even they had to listen in as Peter Sam told off the story of how he puffed on through the storm.

Even the Thin Controller was pleased and told Peter Sam this that evening, "Well sir, I just did what any engine would," said Peter Sam, "not giving up and not letting the railway down."

_**The End!**_


	11. No 53 Toby the Tramway Engine

_**Toby the Tramway Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_In 'Toby the Tram Engine', we learned about how Toby's old line was closed down and in 'Toby, Trucks and Trouble', we heard a story about when Toby worked at a harbour, but what about all the other times he worked on the harbour and the years he worked on his branch line before coming to Sodor? Well most recently in the workshops, Toby told off some of those stories to Kristy and Wendell while he was still being overhauled. When I got to Sodor, Wendell and Kristy asked me if I could write up a book all about Toby and what he used to do and...well, I couldn't refuse this chance. Anyways, I hope you will enjoy reading the stories of our favourite tram engine._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Elsie

-Toby Proves His Worth

-Toby Gets a Branch

-The Sad Story of Toby's Branch Line

_**Elsie**_

The overhaul on Kristy the Former Scrapyard Engine was nearly complete and one sunny spring day, she was taken out of the workshops for her first test run. She started well at first, but something broke and she ground to a hault, "ow!" she cried, "what happened?"

A workmen checked Kristy over while another worker went to get Wendell.

"I'm not sure, but something has burst. Looks like you're not going anywhere for a while."

Kristy groaned unhappily as Wendell rolled up to her. He buffered up gently, then he pushed her slowly back to the workshops beside Toby, "oh bother and blow," Kristy groaned, "and I was eager to get to Edward's Branch line...ah, not that I mind talking with you Toby, it's just..."

"It's okay Kristy I understand perfectly," smiled the old tram engine, "there's nothing like puffing or rumbling along down the tracks. Believe me, I know the feeling...and Elsie would agree with me on that one too."

"Who is Elsie?" Wendell asked curiously.

"She was a van that used to run with Henrietta and I during the old days on our branch line, she was kind and helpful when it came to dealing with the trucks."

"Sounds a lot nicer than some of the vans I've met," said Kristy, "so where is she?"

"You know Kristy, I have no idea where she is, I don't even know if she's in one piece," and before the two engines could even ask, Toby began to tell them about Elsie.

It was in the early years of Toby's branch line, roads weren't as popular as the railway was and although Toby was slow, nobody seemed to really mind at all, they had no reason to rush. Trucks usually tried to pull off some nasty tricks on Toby, but they never got the chance thanks to Elsie the Brown Van, she would always help Toby by making sure they behaved. She stood for none of their nonsense.

Toby was always grateful to Elsie, "I don't know what Henrietta and I would do without you to help us," he said to her one evening.

"Well Toby my old friend, I'm always glad to help you and Henrietta. After all," she smiled, "that's my duty as your van, to help you keep the trucks in order."

Although Toby and Henrietta were happy with Elsie helping them, the trucks were not, "thanks to her, we can't have any fun," one grumbled.

"I know," said another one angerily, "she's just a fuss pot, if only we can get rid of her, then we can have some fun with that tram engine."

"Good luck trying," scoffed another truck, "that silly van is always on her guard and won't let us get away with anything."

A fourth truck snickered, "in that case, why don't we take her by surprise," he suggested and whispered a plan to the other trucks, "if it works, she won't be able to stop us," the trucks giggled and agreed to give it a try.

The next morning, Toby shunted some trucks in front of Elsie, then once he was coupled up to the front of the train, the guard blew his whistle and the train started off. At first, the journey was going quite well, Elsie was actually quite surprised by this.

"The trucks aren't pulling any of their usual tricks," she thought to herself, "something's not right here."

Just beyond a long stone bridge is a steep hill, Toby usually has to charge the hill, which becomes difficult with the trucks holding back. Today though, with the trucks being on their best behaviour, Toby and his crew thought that they could get over the hill with no trouble...they were to be proven wrong.

"Go to it Toby, you got them!" called the Driver.

Toby charged the hill, but halfway up, the trucks started holding back. The truck's plan wasn't to hold Toby back to make him late, this time it was to break a rusting coupling. They tugged and tugged until they finally broke the coupling with a loud snap. The train stopped for a second, then it started rolling back down the hill.

Hearing the snap, the fireman looked back and gasped. The five last trucks and Elsie were now rolling down the hill and gathering speed. "We got a runaway!" he shouted.

The Driver leaned out the cab and looked to see the trucks rolling away from them. He reached for the brake handle and brought Toby to a quick stop, then he opened the reserver as they set chase after the runaway goods train.

"We will catch her, we will catch her," Toby puffed to himself.

But the trucks and Elsie were going much faster than Toby ever could, so they managed to get away from him and rolled out of sight. Elsie did her best to stop the runaway, she ordered the trucks to stop, but they wouldn't listen. So when that failed, she slammed on her brakes in a bid to slow the train down.

They slowed for a bit, but not fast enough.

In the early days of the branch line, the tracks weren't as smooth as they should've been.

Try as she might, Elsie couldn't stop the train and without warning, she and the trucks bumped off the tracks, flipped over and landed in a nearby field with a earshattering crash. It was a terrible sound to hear.

Toby soon arrived with the rest of his train, he was shocked by what he saw. One of the trucks had been smashed to pieces while others were missing pieces of wood, as for Elsie...she had been damaged badly, her roof was gone, she had lost lots of her wooden frame and her wheels were no longer underneath her, they sat a short distance away.

"Ooh," Elsie groaned, she was in a complete state of shock of what happened. As for the guard, he had jumped out long before the crash, so he didn't suffer any injuries. He picked himself up, then he walked away to call for help.

Another engine had to be called in from the LNER to take care of Toby's work while Toby helped to haul the slighty damaged trucks away. A traction engine had to be called to take Elsie back to the yards, the damged trucks were left behind.

The Manager looked Elsie all over with a grim look on his face, "she looks unrepairable," he said, "I don't think it's even possible, we might have to replace her."

Toby wheesed steam angerily, "please sir don't do that! Elsie is a wonderful van and a great help during my runs, plus she's a good friend to all of us."

"I understand your feelings Toby," said the Manager, "but it seems impossible. I'll send her to the works and see if they can repair her, but I don't have high hopes for her..."

"And that was the last time I ever saw Elsie. She was sent away and I've heard nothing from her since," Toby concluded his story on a sad note.

"Had terrible," gasped Kristy, then she asked, "do you think Elsie is still out there Toby?"

"I don't know Kristy, I really don't know. I'm hoping she is still out there, it'd be nice to see her again, catch up on old times and to work together like we did in the old days. We can only hope."

Both Wendell and Kristy silently agreed.

_**Toby Proves His Worth**_

Later on that evening, Wendell was called away from the works. He rolled along the main line, light engine, till he arrived at the bridge just outside of Vicarstown. A Diesel from the Other Railway had been taking a goods train to Sodor, but his engine had been making some spluttering noises until he finally broke down and was left stranded on the bridge.

The big diesel looked down at Wendell, "oh joy, they sent an old relic to come rescue me," he grumbled.

"Excuse me?" Wendell asked with a raised eyebrow, "I may be an old diesel, but I am just as useful as any of the newer diesels running on the Other Railway."

"You're only fooling yourself relic," the diesel said rudely, "many of the other diesels and I don't believe that's true."

Wendell said no more, his feelings were quite hurt, but he tried hard not to show it to the Other Railway Diesel. He was soon coupled up to the diesel's front end, then he towed the engine and it's train to Vicarstown. After arriving, the goods train was handed over to Henry, who had been waiting for the train while Wendell towed the Other Railway diesel to the works.

When they arrived, he started speaking rudely to Kristy and Toby, "what a surprise, the older relics are in here instead of working. You lot should be rusting away in the scrapyards."

"How dare you!" Kristy snapped angerily.

Toby didn't get angry. Instead, he spoke calmly to the diesel, "you know, you remind me of an engine I met when I was a harbour based engine. He thought he was better than others, but he was soon proved wrong."

"Oh safe your breath clap trap, I don't want to hear one of your stories."

"Oh shut up and listen," Kristy snapped at him. The Diesel went silent, "now Toby, you were saying..."

"Well it started when..." and this is the story Toby told.

Long ago, there were various differnt railroads that ran all across Britian, but soon came the mergers and several bigger railroads were born. One of them was the LNER, the London & North Eastern Railway, this was the railway Toby worked on for many years along with many of his brothers and sisters.

His brothers were: Kyle, Andrew, John and Matt and his sisters were named: Amber and Emah. They all worked at the harbour quite well and they were never disrespectful, which was more than they could say about one of the engines that came to the harbour.

The engine was one of Gordon's own cousins, an A1 Pacific. He was a rude engine who believed that he and his class were better than any engine on the line, "they should replace the lot of you with engines like me. The most modern steam engine to ever come out of Doncaster works," he boasted.

"Well I guess they could," said Matt, "but then again, that would leave you with all the shunting," he said in a teasing way.

"You're not the most important engine on the railway," said Emah, "we all work hard to get the work done, we work as a team."

"Huh! Yeah right," he sniffed, "your class of engines aren't useful, you're better off in museums like the relics you are." Thinking he had made his point, the A1 puffed away with a proud look on his face.

"That's some cheek he's got," snorted Andrew angerily, "I wish I had said something, then I could give that engine a piece of my mind!"

"That wouldn't have done any good Andy," Toby said to him, only Toby and Emah ever called Andrew 'Andy', he wouldn't allow anyone else to call him that, "arguing with him would've resulted in short tempers and words being said that you'll regret later on."

"With engines like him, it's only a matter of time before they are proven wrong, just you wait and see."

Little did any of the tram engines know that he was due to find out sooner than expected.

It was late in the evening and the pacific was to take an empty goods train to the docks where the trucks were to be loaded and taken to other destinations. The train wasn't very heavy and the pacific had a good head of steam, "tonight's going to be another flawless run," he thought to himself, "I'd like to see those tram engines try to do what I do. Useless engines," he chuckled to himself.

But was to eat his own words. As he approached a level crossing, something went wrong, there was a bang and steam surronded the engine. The Driver and fireman were blind by the steam surronding them, but luckily the Driver was able to apply the brakes and bring the train to a stop. Steam surronded the engine until he finally ran out, "What happened?" he groaned.

The crew checked him all over and soon found the problem, "you burst your safety valve, you're not going anywhere now."

"Oh joy," groaned the pacific and soon, he had plenty to worry about.

He had stopped...right on the level crossing. Now cars and lorries were honking their horns at the engine, he shouted at them, but they would not quiet down. The crew tried to calm them down, but it did no good, "well that was a waste of time," groaned the Driver.

"Indeed," agreed the fireman, "we're going to need help getting to the harbour. You go on ahead, I'll stay with our engine."

And so the Driver ran on ahead to the harbour while the fireman stayed with his engine. Cars and lorries continued honking their horns and strong words were said, "oh be quiet!" shouted the pacific, but it did no good.

By the time the Driver arrived at the harbour, he was out of breath, "where's your engine?" asked a workman.

"My engine's burst his safety valve," the Driver panted, "and he's blocking a level crossing...we need one of your tram engines to come tow him here."

"Leave him where he is," sniffed Andrew, "it'll serve him right for thinking he's the superior engine."

"That isn't right Andy," Toby said to him, "despite his attitude, he's still an engine who needs help and we don't turn a buffer on any engine."

At the crossing, the people in the cars and lorries were growing impatient and were arguing with the pacific and the fireman. Toby soon arrived, "don't worry ladies and gentlemen," he called out, "we'll soon have this train out of the way."

The A1 pacific said nothing, he just grumbled and muttered under his breath. Before long, Toby was coupled up to the big steam engine and started pulling the train away from the crossing. It was hard work for Toby, he had to use a lot of steam, but thanks to determination, Toby managed to pull the pacific to the harbour, where he was greeted by Andrew and Emah.

"Well Andy, I told you that he would soon be proven wrong of how useful we tram engines are," she said to Andrew.

"Yes," Andrew smirked, "and he was also proven that he's not the _best_ engine on the railway."

The A1 pacific snarled at Andrew, but was quickly hushed by his own crew as he was moved out to a siding out of the way.

"There is something important you can learn from this story," Toby said to the big diesel after he had finished, "don't speak rudely to older engines, calling them useless for example, cause they can very well prove you wrong. We're all useful, both old and new."

"Of course, you can learn that after you make a fool out of yourself," Kristy chuckled. The diesel glared, but said nothing more.

_**Toby Gets a Branch**_

The repairs on the Other Railway diesel were soon finished and he was sent off back to the Other Railway, thankfully he said no insulting words as he left - in fact, he apologized to Wendell as he left.

"Well that's something you don't hear too much everyday, from what I've heard," Kristy said after Wendell told her and Toby of what the diesel said, "your story really got to him Toby."

"It happens," smiled the old tram engine.

"Toby," Wendell piped up, "I was wondering, how did you go from being a harbour based tram engine to being a branch line tram engine?"

"Well it's actually an interesting story Wendell, what began as a way to help restore a branch line quickly turned into something enterily different..."

"Please tell us Toby," Kristy begged, "I've been wanting to know this story."

"Okay Kristy, I'll both you and Wendell..." and so, Toby began to tell the story of how he became a branch line engine.

It all started on a cold winter's day, Toby was shunting some vans around the dockyards. They were being a bit troublesome, but Toby was able to keep them under control. As he finished, he saw the dockside manager come up with another man walking behind him, "hello Toby, are you busy?"

"Not at all sir, I just finished shunting these vans for the next main line train."

"Most excellent. Now listen, this man here is the manager of a small branch line, but it has fallen into such disrepair and now he would like you to go help restore the line."

"I would ask our regular engine, but he...well," the branch line manager paused, "he doesn't feel that repairing a branch line is worth his time."

"So what do you say Toby? Will you go help restore the branch line?"

Toby and his crew thought about it for a moment, then after a quick discussion, Toby gave his answer, "I'd be glad to help sir, but what about the work here?"

"The engine from the branch line will come here to work in your place," he answered.

Within a few days, Toby was ready to go to the branch line. He was coupled up to a goods train, then he set off to the branch line, just as the branch line arrived.

When Toby and his crew arrived on the branch line, they could not believe the condition of the line.

"Goodness me," exclaimed the Driver, "I've never seen a line look this bad before."

"We definetly have our work cut out for us," said the fireman.

The manager met up with them at the rundown shed, "welcome Toby to the branch line," he said, "I'm only sorry that your welcome here isn't...quite a pleasant one."

"It's alright sir," Toby said kindly, "I think it's a nice little branch line."

"Well I'm glad you like it, but it'll look much better when it's repaired," he then turned to another siding, "I would like you to meet Henrietta the Coach and Elsie the Van, you will take them whenever you go out with the workmen."

"Please be careful with us," Henrietta whispered to Toby, "the usual engine who takes us is usually rough and bumps us hard."

"Don't worry my dears, I won't bump you."

Toby proved that the following next morning as he backed onto them, carefully and smoothly. Henrietta and Elsie were quite pleased, "you're much better than the other engine," they said cheerfully, "we're glad to be going out with you."

The workmen were also pleased to be going out with Toby, he gave off smooth rides and never bumped the train.

Work on the branch line went along quite well, it was actually going faster than ever imagined, "with luck, we'll be finished in a month or so," said one of the workmen.

Another workmen groaned, "I hate to think about it," he said, "cause then we'll get that silly engine back here again. I like Toby, he's better than that other engine."

It wasn't just the workmen, Toby got along quite well with everyone on the branch line, starting with the workers, the manager and the coaches and trucks. He also got along quite well with the locals that came out to see him roll by, they waved to him and he always rang his bell in reply.

Besides just doing the maintenance work, Toby did all the jobs from dairy runs to pulling long lines of trucks brought in from the main line. Toby worked harder than the other engine ever did, according to what some workmen on the branch line said.

All good things came to an end though when the restoration work was complete and Toby was to be sent back to the dockyards of the LNER.

"Good bye Toby," Henrietta said with a tear in her right eye, "we'll miss you, it was great having you work here."

"Take care in your yard Toby," said Elsie.

"I will," Toby said kindly, "I'll never forget you either." And with a tear pouring down from his right eye, Toby puffed away back to the dockyards.

Days passed, but there was no sign of their engine, "I wonder where he is," Elsie said to Henrietta, "do you think he was held up by sheep or something?"

"I don't know," Henrietta answered.

Just then, they heard some chuffing sounds in the distance, "here he comes," Henrietta groaned, she shut her eyes and waited for the hard bump that was to come. The sound of the engine came closer and closer till it slowed and buffer up to her, gently. She opened her eyes and saw Toby in front of her, "Toby?! What are you doing here? I thought our regular engine was to come back..."

"I thought so too, but your manager has been so pleased with my work performance that he wanted me to be this branch line's full time residant engine while the other engine is being sent somewhere else to work...strange though your manager didn't say where."

Shortly afterwords, Toby began work on the branch line, he had been given a fresh new coat of paint and given a brand new bell. He worked quite hard and never let the railway down and because of Toby's kindess and smooth running, people came to the railway and more often than enough, some people would have to ride in the trucks cause there was no room in Henrietta.

"And that," Toby concluded, "is the story of how I became a branch line engine. As for that engine, he was sent back to the mainland where he was put back into mainline service, last I heard, he became a much better engine who wasn't rough or rude again. So I think that switching roles really helped both us and our lines too."

_**The Sad Story of Toby's Branch Line**_

A couple of days later, Kristy was taken out of the workshops for her first test run again. This time, she ran perfectly backwards and forwards threw the yards of the works, "very good," said the works manager, "now we'll just finish up the last bit of work we need to do, then we'll send her to Wellsworth."

They rolled Kristy back into the workshops, then after dropping her fire, the workmen got to work in finishing the last bit of work they needed to do.

"How did the tests go Kristy?" Toby asked kindly.

"They went quite well, they said I might be going to Wellsworth in a day or two."

"That's good, but you don't seem too happy about it."

"Well I am happy about it Toby, I'm going to enjoy running along on the tracks again, but I just have something on my mind. Toby, why did your old branch line close down in the first place anyways?"

"Well Kristy, the main reason is because it wasn't really needed anymore, businesses used lorries and passengers rode in cars and buses. It came down to being reliable and in the eyes of the people in the villages along the line, we weren't as useful as we used to be..."

Toby's branch line stayed in service for quite a long time, he always used to pull at least nine trucks behind Henrietta or more, depending on the load. He loved travelling along on the branch line, but by the 1950's, he noticed that things were going to change forever. Roadways had been placed alongside the railway for some distance and everyday as he puffed up and down the line, Toby would see cars, buses and lorries roll along, smirking at him.

"Your days are numbered old timer, roadways are the way of the future!" they would say rudely, "one day soon, your rails will be torn up and roads will be placed everywhere."

"Do you think what they say is true Toby?" Henrietta asked nervously, "do you think our line will be torn up for their roads?"

"Not at all Henrietta, our line is still useful to the villagers, they would never see the end of our line."

But Toby was going to be proven wrong as several businesses started using lorries instead of the branch line, "but why sir?" Toby's Driver asked one owner one day, "you've always used our line. Why don't you want us taking your goods?"

"The lorries are faster and provide a better service," he said, "I'm sorry, but we don't really need you taking our goods anymore."

Of course the cars, lorries and the buses often had accidents, Toby never had an accident since the incident with Elsie, but despite this, the villagers were starting to use the roadways more than the railway. Buses often stole the passengers and said rude things to Toby. As if that wasn't bad enough, the villagers pointed at Toby and laughed.

"Look at him," they said rudely, "a silly old relic of the past, trying to prove he's useful when he's not."

Toby felt hurt, but thought that maybe he could still prove just how useful he was. This, of course, was just wishful thinking. Soon, Toby only had four to five trucks rattling behind and Henrietta had very few passengers.

"It's not fair, it's not fair," she would sob during their runs, "those silly buses and cars stole our passengers."

"Nothing we can do about it Henrietta," Toby said to her, "it's the villagers' choice if they want to ride with us or not."

Deep down, Toby was worried about the future of his branch line.

Then one day, Toby met a family at a station, this was the Fat Controller, his wife and his grandchildren. They took in a great interest in Toby and everyday, they came to ride on his train. This cheered Toby and Henrietta up, but all good things must come to an end as the family vacation came to a close and they had to leave.

They thanked Toby, his Driver, fireman and his guard just before he puffed out of the station.

"Come again soon!" Toby called to them.

They said they would and waved till Toby was out of sight. Shortly after they left, things got worse for Toby's branch line. Businesses were now ignoring his services and would never use him.

After the Hatt family left, Toby had four trucks rattling along, but soon they left one truck behind because it wasn't being used, leaving them with only three, then two and then one truck was left rattling along. Soon, it was removed off the train as goods services was discontinued, leaving the line as a passenger railway, but it wasn't to last.

Even more buses could be seen rolling along on the roads, which meant fewer passengers on Toby's train.

Then one day, his Driver came up to the sheds with a sad look on his face, "it's our last day today Toby," he said sadly, "the manager says we must close tomorrow."

That was all Toby didn't want to hear, "it can't be," he gasped, "our line was doing so well and now we're closing..."

"I know it doesn't seem like it's happening, but it is. We're to take Henrietta and the trucks today, collect the passengers and give them the last run on this branch line."

Sighing sadly, Toby puffed out of the sheds, collected his train and went to the station. There were lots of passengers on the platform, so many that they had to ride in the trucks. They joked and sang, but Toby wished they didn't...this wasn't a joyful moment. He gave them great rides all day, but as he puffed along, Toby wished that the trips wouldn't end.

Sadly, they did. Toby took the last set of passengers back to the station, trying hard to hold back the tears.

Just seeing the sad look on Toby's face, the villagers felt sorry for him and felt bad that they let the branch line go like this. "Good bye Toby," they said as kindly as they could, "we're very sorry your line is closing down."

"So am I." He watched as the passengers left the station, then he took his train back to the yards and puffed back to his shed.

His crew stayed a bit and chatted with Toby until the sun had gone down for the day, they said their good byes to him, shut the doors and went back to their homes.

"Nobody wants me," Toby thought and went unhappily to sleep with a tear pouring down from his right eye.

"...Luckily though," Toby continued, "the Fat Controller remembered me and when Thomas got in trouble with the police, he asked for Henrietta and I to come work on the tramway and we've been working on the Ffarquhar Branch Line ever since."

"Well I'm glad that you were given another chance," Kristy said after the story was told, "but I still feel sad for you Toby."

"Don't, while it is sad the branch line closed down, Henrietta and I didn't disappear like the line did. We were remembered and because of that, we were saved and given a second chance to be really useful." Kristy just smiled along with her friend, Toby the Tramway Engine.

_**The End!**_


	12. No 54 Small Railway Summer Engines

_**Small Railway Summer Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

_**Special Thanks to D.J. Scales for the ideas**_

Dear Friends,

_In the summer of 2012, the Small Railway got a brand new engine named Lucas, a Small Railway version of an C1 Atlantic steam engine. Of course though, Lucas wasn't the only engine to have his own adventures or misadventures during the beginning of the Summer season, a few of the engines got their little adventures too. Here are the stories of the Small Railway engines in the summer._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Dangerous Curves

-Turn Around Jock

-The Unlucky Engine

-Lucas Gives a Push

_**Dangerous Curves**_

The Small Railway runs on the track beds of the original Mid Sodor Railway, which was Duke's old railway. Most of the line covers every inch of the old Mid Sodor, up to where the last station is now. Recently though, plans had been put into motion to expand the line to give visitors more to see during their rides on the trains. The Blister Twins were often enlisted to help lay down new tracks while Mike and Frank brought down the ballast trains.

One morning, the Small Controller came to the sheds to speak to his engines, "As our line is going to become busier than ever before, I have decided to buy a new engine. This one was on sale from another small railway similar to ours and should be here later in the day."

"I just hope this engine isn't arrogant," Mike said shortly after the Small Controller left, "cause we had enough trouble when Jock arrived."

Jock shot Mike a firm look and was about to retort when Bert, who had returned after a _big_ overhaul, spoke up, "that's quite enough Mike, Jock has learned since that time and has become a better engine, just like we all have."

"Besides, we won't know what this engine is like until he arrives," added Rex, "so don't go jumping into conclusions...or jumping off the tracks because of it." And Rex burst into laughter, Mike seethed with anger until his Driver was able to calm his engine down and take him out of the sheds to collect his train.

It was later in the day that the new engine had arrived on a flatbed being pushed into the Wharf siding by Douglas. The engine was a miniature version of a C1 Atlantic engine, painted in bright green and had four front wheels, four driving wheels and two back wheels behind them. This engine also had a small funnel and had on the side of the tender 'Alresdale Railway', which had most recently been painted on.

Blister I and Blister II were near the chute to greet the new arrival.

Soon the little engine was on the rails and his fire had been lit. He sizzled happily and looked around at his new surrondings, "weel, better be oof meself," said Douglas, "Take care yon engine." With a cheerful blast of his whistle, Douglas puffed away.

The Small Controller approached the new engine, "welcome Lucas, I trust you had a smooth ride here."

"Yes indeed," said the new comer, "my ride from my old railway was as smooth as butter, but it feels good to be on the rails again and in steam once more."

"Good to hear that, now there are no jobs for you to do right now, so you can go to the sheds to rest and I'll see you in the morning."

The sun was starting to set for another day by the time the other engines arrived. They greeted the new comer and introduced themselves to him. Mike did too, but he still kept a suspicious look on his face.

"What was your old railway like?" Bert asked.

"It was a nice little railway, we had various different engines that were based on engines from all around the world," said Lucas, "we had a Durango and Silverton Mikado, a small version of a Great Western Star Engine and the most recent addition was a small version of a big engine the workmen called 'The Big Boy'. He was a big engine I can tell you."

"So why did they sell you?" Jock asked curiously.

"Well, our railway had more engines than it really needed. Many of us were just sitting on the sidings looking pretty. Our controller didn't like that, so when your controller came to see our line looking for engines, my Controller took him to see me and later sold me to your railway. Before arriving, I was given a brand new coat of paint and given a brand new name on my tender."

The engines talked throughout most of the evening till long after the stars had come out.

The following next morning, Lucas was brought out the shed bright and early. He was to bring a load of ballast trucks to the new extension and then go back for more ballast to be loaded up into the Little Western's waiting trucks. Lucas was a little sleepy and because of it, he bumped his trucks and sent them down the siding.

"Ow!" they cried, "be careful you clumsy engine!"

"Sorry," Lucas called, he was worried, "I hope I'll be fine here."

Once coupled up, Lucas puffed along the line with his empty ballast trucks, but he was feeling nervous as he puffed along, "stay calm boy," said his Driver, "you'll do fine, just stop worrying so much. You can't let one little mishap ruin your day."

"But it's stopped me many times before," Lucas muttered, but not loud enough for his Driver to hear.

His spirits lifted somewhat as he puffed along towards the location where the weedkilling ballast was waiting to be loaded. He had enjoyed the run and now he had to wait for his trucks to be loaded.

Lucas waited and waited, whilst he waited, his Driver had a conversation with one of the nearby workmen, "so how far is the extension going?" he asked.

"It's going beyond the last station of the line and going to a place they call 'The Lost Mine'. From what I know, this was the last mine that had closed down when the Mid Sodor was around. The Small Controller wants to take visitors there to show the hertiage of the old railway."

"Interesting," Lucas said quietly to himself.

Soon his trucks were loaded up and Lucas puffed slowly and carefully along with his heavy train.

The line beyond the last station was a smooth line, except at a place where the line had a dangerous curve. This line was often called 'The Jump', according to the workmen cause it is here that if a train is going too fast, then the train will _jump_ off the tracks. All the other engines knew to take great care here, but Lucas had not been informed of this curve.

He stormed down the line, hoping to get his job done without trouble.

"Don't mess up, I can make it. Don't mess up, I can make it," he puffed to himself.

Soon he roared past the last station, much to the Stationmaster's surprise, "slow down!" he cried, "otherwise you'll come off at The Jump!"

"The what?" Lucas asked. He was due to find out. He soon reached the part of the line that went on a curve, workmen waved and shouted, but by the time Lucas had seen them, it was much too late! "Stop! Stop! Oh for Pete's Sake, Stop!" he shouted.

His Driver applied the brakes as hard as he could and at first, Lucas thought he could make it, but he was proven wrong. Somehow, Lucas managed to stay on the tracks and so did two of his trucks, but the rest jumped off the tracks, tumbled for a bit and then crash into each other beside the line.

"Oh no!" Lucas cried, "I did it again!"

The workmen were in complete shock, "we were just going to mend that dangerous curve and what do you do? You spill your ballast everywhere and now we'll have to work even harder!" they were not pleased.

Lucas felt terrible, "I was hoping this would _not _happen," he groaned.

When the Small Controller heard, he sent the Blister Twins to help clear away the wreckage while Lucas waited by the last station. The Small Controller was not pleased, "I'm sorry sir, but..."

"No buts, I clearly see what happened," he interupted, "you wanted to go fast and so you ignored the warning and charged at the curve."

"No sir that wasn't..."

"I don't want to hear your lies Lucas! You will go back to the sheds until I can trust you again! After that, you can do shunting work in the yards. Mike can handle your ballast runs."

Lucas wanted to speak the truth, but the Small Controller was in no mood to listen, so he said nothing and puffed back to the sheds.

"I didn't mean to derail my train," he said to his Driver.

"I know Lucas and I'll tell the Small Controller that later, but for now, it's better not to say anything."

Soon Lucas had returned to the sheds, he was parked inside and his fire was dropped. His Driver went away to get some breakfast, leaving his little engine to sob, "it's like my old railway all over again."

_**Turn Around Jock**_

Following Lucas' accident, the workmen worked hard into making sure that the curve was safe. It took a while, but soon, it was safe enough to use. Whilst Lucas was locked up in the shed, Mike brought down the ballast trains for the extension while Rex and Bert often took in turns in burning down the other ballast trains to the Little Western chute.

Jock was in charge of the passengers while their diesel, Sigrid of Arlesdale, was away for repairs.

Every night though, he came back to the sheds feeling tired and with his cheeks glowing red, "finally that's another day's work done," he panted, "I must've broken a new record for the most amount of passenger trains pulled in one day."

"Hmm, you sound like a broken record," chuckled Mike. Again Jock shot him a firm look.

"If you'd pull passenger trains once and a while Mike, you would know just how tiring the work can be. Our line's becoming busier, even though the extension is not complete yet, there are more visitors than ever."

"I wish I could pull passenger trains," Lucas said quietly.

"You? Don't make me laugh!" scoffed Mike, "the Small Controller would never allow you to take passengers, especially not after what happened at 'the Jump'."

Lucas quickly subsided into silence, he now wished he hadn't spoken at all.

Next morning, Jock arrived to collect more passengers, but found the platform overfollowing with passengers. "Goodness me," exclaimed Jock, "we'll definetly need two trains for all these passengers."

"Hmm, more like four to me," said the Driver, "but there's nothing we do can about it, Mike, Rex and Bert are handling ballast runs and the diesels are busy shunting."

"If only Lucas could help," muttered Jock.

Soon most of the passengers were on board, the others would have to wait till Jock returned, they didn't mind cause it was such a nice day. Soon the guard's whistle blew and Jock puffed away.

He made good timing and despite a wheel slip here and there, he'd made it to the last station of the line earlier than expected, but he was tired, "oh well, I can have a rest before starting up again," he thought to himself.

Before he could do that though, Jock had to be turned around on the turntable. He was uncoupled from the train and rolled onto the table. The turntable was quite old, it creaked and it groaned as it turned Jock around, "I'll be glad when they replace this thing," Jock groaned as a squeakling noise came from the turntable.

Jock had almost been turned around when suddenly, _BANG!_ Something blew and the turtable stopped with Jock stuck on it.

"What happened?" Jock asked in surprise.

His Driver got down to inspect and after some time of looking, he answered Jock's question, "the old motor has blown out, that's what the bang was. You won't be moving, at least not with the motor gone, we'll have to push you by hand."

Jock's Driver tried to push, but found that the turntable wouldn't move an inch.

"There must be something else that's keeping the turntable from turning, but I just don't know what."

"Well I hope you can figure it out soon," said Jock as he looked back to the platform. All the passengers were waiting for Jock to return to the train and some of them were grumbling.

"I'll need some tools to help fix that problem, I think the stationmaster might have some in his office, I'll be right back," and with that, the Driver left the station. He returned quite soon with the stationmaster, a porter and some tools.

The Stationmaster inspected the turntable, "Goodness me, this motor's completely burned out, it's beyond repair."

"Indeed," agreed Jock's Driver, "that's why I came in asking for tools, cause there's something else in there that's keeping the table from turning Jock around."

"Well we'll soon find out," said the porter, rolling up his sleves.

The three men went to work in removing a lot of parts, but it took quite a while and the passengers continued to grumble about the wait. At last though, their work was done, "hopefully we should be able to move the turntable and get Jock off of it."

"Hopefully," muttered Jock.

The porter stood outside the turntable well to guide the men while they pushed. "Alright, on the count of three. One...two...three...push!" The two men pushed on the ledge of the turntable and slowly but surely, it started to move towards the line. Many of the passengers were now watching the operation with interest.

"Easy does it!" called the porter, "a little slower, you're getting closer to the line!"

Despite being a Small engine, Jock was still heavy, which made it difficult for the men to slow the turntable down, but they managed...just! After much pushing, the turntable's rail were now touching the rails of the railway again.

"Good work men," said the porter, "now let's get that train going."

"Right," said the Driver, "but stay close by in case that turntable decides to go for another spin on it's own." The Stationmaster and the porter stood by as Jock's Driver moved him off the turntable slowly. First, his front wheels touched the rails, then his driving wheels touched the rails and finally his tender wheels touched the rails as he finally rolled off the turntable.

"Finally, we're off of it," sighed Jock.

They had no time to rest though, they had to take the passengers home. Jock was quickly coupled up and they set off on their way. On the way back, Jock's Driver informed Control of what happened at the turntable.

"We'll send Frank with some workmen and a new motor," Control said to them, "in the meantime, you'll have to run backwards on your next return journey."

Jock soon returned to the station where the Small Controller was waiting, he had been informed of what happened to the turntable and apologized to the passengers for the delay, but they weren't cross at all, "We still had a good time today," they said, "and we enjoyed watching the men turn that table on their own, just like in the old days."

Shortly afterwords, workmen went to work in fixing the turntable and adding in the new motor. The steam engines did have to go backwards for a while, they didn't mind this, but all the same, they were glad when they heard the turntable was finally ready for use and hopefully this meant that no engine would stuck on it ever again. Jock certainly hopes it doesn't happen again.

_**The Unlucky Engine**_

The Small Controller still believed that Lucas' accident was caused by reckless attitudes, but he did agree to allow the new engine out of the sheds, but only for shunting duties. Whenever one of the other Small Railway engines brought the ballast trucks into the yards, Lucas would take the trucks over to the chute to be emptied, then he shunted more ballast trucks for other engines to take away.

Although Lucas was glad to be out of the sheds again, he was still feeling worried that his 'bad-luck' would get him into so much trouble that he'd be sent away from the railway.

One warm summer's day, Lucas was sitting near the chute waiting for Michael to arrive to collect his ballast. His Driver had gone off to get something cold to drink as it was such a hot day.

"I wish this horrible curse of mine would go away," he sighed unhappily to himself.

Moments later, Michael the Saddletank engine arrived with his empty ballast trucks. As he shunted the trucks under the chute, he saw the sad look on Lucas' face. Once he had shunted his trucks under the chute, he spoke to the new small engine, "hello there," he said kindly, "you look so sad, what's the matter?"

"It's my curse, it's always getting me into trouble and getting me sent away. I try so hard to do my best, but it only backfires on me and I end up in trouble. I must be the unluckiest engine in the world."

"I don't think it has anything to do with luck or a curse," said Michael, "I think it's just a matter of confidence. I should know considering when I first came to Sodor, I had very little confidence and had gotten into a bit of trouble, but thankfully I had friends who helped me gain confidence and because of them, I was able to save the trucks when the tunnel caved in on us. I became a better engine because of it and I'm sure in due time, you will too."

The last of the ballast had finally fallen into Michael's trucks and he was ready to go. As he pulled out from under the chute, he spoke to Lucas again, "don't forget what I said and remember, believe in yourself."

Michael's words stuck with Lucas throughout the rest of the day as he worked about the yards. As he shunted the ballast trucks, he kept on saying to himself, "I can do this, I can do this. I will not make a mistake, I will not make a mistake."

And he didn't, he did a flawless job with his shunting and all the ballast deliveries were made on time.

"Well done Lucas," smiled the Small Controller at the end of the day, "you have done quite well. I think this more than makes up for your previous incident."

"Ah sir...thank you," smiled Lucas, deciding not to tell the truth, in case he got into the controller's wrong book again.

"You've done so well that I've decided to give you a chance to pull one of the passenger trains tomorrow afternoon. Jock will take them to the last station, then you two can doublehead it together."

"Thank you sir, that would be great," smiled Lucas.

"Just don't go flying past the station again," Mike said after the Small Controller left, "otherwise it's back to the sheds for you." Lucas drowned Mike out by saying the same encouraging words from before.

The next afternoon, it was time for Lucas' train. He reserved down the line tender first and soon met up with Jock and the passengers.

"Alright Lucas," he muttered to himself, "you can do this, you can pull a passenger train. Definetly, nothing will go wrong."

After being coupled up, the guard blew his whistle and the two engines started off. The weather that day had been quite warm, but now a nice cool breeze was starting to blow at the engines and their passengers, but Jock didn't notice this, "I feel hot," he panted, "I think something's wrong."

"No wonder," gasped the Driver and whistled a warning to Lucas and his Driver.

"Something must be wrong with Jock," gasped Lucas, "we better stop."

"We're almost to the Green anyways, we'll stop there," said the Driver.

They soon stopped at the Green where the trouble was discovered, "you have too many ashes Jock and it's making your fire burn hotter than it's suppose to, I'll have to empty alot of them out before we can start again."

Before he could do anything though, there came the sound of a thud like someone had passed out. Jock's Driver looked ahead to see what happened. Lucas' Driver hadn't been feeling well and added with the heat definetly didn't help matters at all and now he was laying on top of Lucas' roof.

"Do we have a doctor onboard?" Jock's Driver called.

They did have a doctor on board the train, he went to check out Lucas' Driver while Jock's Driver emptied out alot of ashes out of Jock's firebox. It took a while but at last, the heat of the fire started to go down and Jock started to feel better.

The Doctor came up to speak with the Driver, "it's just a cold that got out of hand, he can't work anymore today, he needs some rest."

"Then who'll drive me home?" Lucas asked.

"Got no choice," said Jock's Driver, "Jock will have to pull the train and push you home once we drop your fire."

"Oh no," Lucas groaned, "I really am a cursed engine."

Lucas' fire was put out, then with someone riding in his cab keeping the brakes off, Jock took the entire train back to the top station where Oliver was waiting with Isabel and Dulice.

"Oh my," he gasped, "what happened this time?" he asked in surprise when the train came in.

"It's my curse," Lucas groaned, "once again it got us in trouble. Jock, just take me to the back of the sheds, I don't want anyone to get into trouble because of me." Once uncoupled from the train, Jock did as he was asked and left Lucas at the back of the shed, feeling cold and miserable and muttering quietly, "I'm cursed."

**Author's Note:**

Jock's overheating problem was inspired of the real life of the Canadian Pacific Triple Steam run in 1960 when CPR 136 was overheated because of too many ashes in the firebox. They had to stop the train and clear the ashes out of the firebox, then after a forty five minute wait, the train continued on to it's next destination.

_**Lucas Gives a Push**_

_**Based on "You Can Do It! Toby"**_

"I didn't even hear the Stationmaster shouting at me," Lucas' Driver was saying to the Small Controller a few days later, "plus we didn't know about the dangerous curve, so how were we suppose to know?"

"Hmm yes, maybe I made an error on my part not telling you about this," said the Small Controller, "but what I am most concerned about is your engine's lack in confidence. I've been seeing it quite a bit in the yards when he shunts and after his recent doubleheader run with Jock."

"Well there's a reason for all that, Lucas believes that he is a cursed engine."

"Beg pardon?" the Small Controller asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well sir, he believes that ever since he was first built, he is cursed and believes that something will always go wrong, but that's not true sir. It's his lack of confidence and his emotional problems that get the better of him."

"I see, now it all makes sense perfectly and why I keep seeing a worried look on his face every day."

"He's gaining a little bit of confidence," said the Driver, "I saw that during the doubleheader run before Jock overheated during the run. He's gaining a bit, but he's still lacking it...alot of it."

"Well don't worry, we'll find a way to help him out. Now please go get your engine and collect some ballast trucks, Douglas will be waiting in the yards for your load."

Lucas was sitting outside the shed with his fire burning brightly, but he felt as though as his fire was flickering, "another day and probably another incident to occur," he sighed unhappily to himself.

"You keep talking like that then you probably will," said Mike, trying hard now to help the anxious engine.

"I have to agree with Mike," said Blister II, "you can't keep putting yourself down Lucas. Just stay positive and you'll do fine."

"Easy for you to say, you're not cursed like me."

When his Driver arrived, Lucas was sulking and sluggish to start, "come on boy, we have to collect some ballast trucks and bring a load of ballast back for Douglas to take away."

"Alright sir," sighed Lucas unhappily and puffed slowly away.

When he arrived in the goods yard, he was backed down slowly onto the train, but he was still thinking that something would go wrong and because of that, he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing.

"Stop boy!" shouted his Driver, but it was too late. Lucas bashed into the buffers of the ballast trucks and sent them rolling along the siding for a short distance.

"Sorry," groaned Lucas, "I knew I was going to mess up."

"Just stay calm boy and do your best, that's all anybody could ask from you. Now let's get your trucks coupled up and get going."

"Yes sir," sighed Lucas, although he still felt as though he was going to mess up again.

The second time coupling up to the trucks was a lot better and before long, Lucas was out on the main line on his way to the mines. Along the way, he was stopped in the passing loop to allow Bert to pass with a passenger train.

"Morning Lucas, having a good day so far?"

"Not really," came the reply.

"Ah well cheer up my new friend, things will get better, just wait and see!" Bert smiled as he puffed off into the distance with his coaches. Lucas didn't seem to believe him, he just sighed unhappily.

A little later, Lucas was waiting for his trucks to be loaded up with ballast when his Driver got a call on the radio. It was from Control, "Rex has broken down just before the 'Green', can you get him back to the yards?"

Lucas gasped when he heard that, "I can't, I'll probably derail him and his train, couldn't Control send someone else?"

"No," came the reply, "Mike and the Blister Twins are busy at the extension, Jock's not in steam, Bert's Driver went out to get breakfast and Frank is busy with other jobs, you're the only engine who can help."

"But I can't, I'll..."

"You'll do fine boy, you can do it," encouraged his Driver.

Lucas still wasn't sure, but after a while, finally agreed to give it a try. At last the ballast was loaded up into the trucks and Lucas puffed away to find Rex. He soon found the light green engine stranded with steam leaking all around him, he looked terrible.

"Thank goodness you've come Lucas," groaned Rex, "I can't make it home alone."

Lucas remained silent as he buffered up to the tail end of Rex's train, then he began to push, but he wasn't trying hard. His wheels slipped on the rails and the two trains didn't move an inch.

"Come on Lucas, you got a good head of steam, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Yes there is, I'm cursed. I can't push, I can't pull, I can't do anything without something going wrong. They should've sent Mike or the Blister Twins instead of me."

"What's going on?" asked the passengers, "is that a failed engine too?"

Lucas shedded a tear from his right eye, he just wanted to give up, but then he remembered the encouraging words he had been hearing all day, then he remembered what Michael said to him before, "you need to believe in yourself," shouted Rex.

It was at that moment that a determined feeling emerged and Lucas let off a huge amount of steam.

"I can do this, I can do this!" he shouted and started to push on the back couplings of Rex's train. The little engine's wheels slipped on the rails at first, but then, slowly but surely, the two trains started on their way.

Bert and Douglas were waiting at the top station, having been warned by control. "Here they come!" shouted Bert, "Lucas has done it!"

Lucas had indeed done it, he puffed, pushed and pulled both trains into the top station. A large amount of cheers could be heard and they were cheering for Lucas, the little green engine heard nothing though, he continued pushing and pulling until at last, he came to a stop at the platform, red faced and tired, but pleased.

"I have done it," he panted happily.

The Small Controller was there too, he spoke with Rex and his crew at first to find out what the problem was, then he went to speak with Lucas, "well done my little engine, I am very impressed with you."

"Thank you sir, although for a while, I didn't think I could do it, but then I remembered some encouraging words and now, here we are."

"Yes indeed and I'm proud of you. Your Driver told me about your 'curse', but from what I've seen and heard about today, I'd say you've beaten the curse."

"Yeah I guess I did," and for the first time that day, Lucas showed a cheerful smile on his face.

"You've still got a bit of a way's to go yet, but at least it's a start. Now please take Rex to the workshops, Frank will take care of your trucks and when you come back..." the Small Controller paused with a smile, "you can take the passengers."

"Oh thank you," smiled Lucas and whistled for joy.

After much shunting, Lucas had shunted Rex into the workshops and soon returned to a waiting train. Once coupled up, the guard blew his whistle and Lucas, now a more cheerful engine, puffed slowly out of the station with a passenger train.

I'm happy to say now that Lucas is doing much better, he hasn't had a single incident and does so well that the Small Controller often askes him to pull the passenger trains, which really pleases Mike as it gives him more time to work with his ballast trucks. As for Rex, he was soon repaired and sent back to work and on the day he returned, he doubleheaded with Lucas with no trouble at all.

Lucas still has a long ways to go, but I'd say he's making some good improvements to his personality and his working life style, don't you agree?

_**The End!**_


	13. Bonus Tales No 1 Christmas Heroes

_**Christmas Heroes**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_I was shocked when I heard that someone had stolen donations from a charity group. Thankfully the person turned himself in and alot of the donations are going to be returned and later on given to deserving families and children who don't have much for Christmas._

_On Sodor, they had a similar situation when donation boxes were stolen by a few thieves. Luckily, our old friend, Duck the Great Western Engine and his crew helped save the day. How? Well, I can't reveal that to you right now, you'll have to read the story to find out for yourself._

The Author

At around Christmas time every year, people donate food, clothes, toys, and just about anything to charity groups, who will later give those items to either children's hospitals or deserving families. When people do this, they get a wonderful feeling knowing that they are helping someone in need. But of course, not everyone feels the same way as the people of Sodor found out one year...

It was a cool winter's evening and Oliver the Great Western Engine was puffing into the big station with Isabel and Dulice. As he arrived, he saw several people near the donation box that sat in the station.

"They must be here to donate something," Oliver thought to himself.

They didn't stick around too long though, they walked away the moment the passengers were getting out of Isabel and Dulice. Oliver was confused at first, but then thought, "maybe they're part of the charity group," he thought to himself, "they're probably just checking out to see how much is in that box. They'll probably pick it up later."

And someone was going to pick it up later, but not in the way Oliver was thinking.

At around Midnight, there was very little activity in the Big Station, other than a late night goods train being pulled by Bear and a late night passenger train being pulled by James. When the trains left, the station was empty...

"Come on, let's go, ha-ha."

Except for a few people who were still in the station and had taken a great interest in the donations box, but it wasn't to help others. Two of them pushed from one side while the third pulled from the front, mainly to keep a good look out.

"Couldn't we do this in the daytime?" one of them asked, "this station creeps me out."

"Oh sure we can come back in the daytime," said the second person, "and then we can turn ourselves over to the police. Did you ever think about that?"

"Uh...no I didn't."

"Shut up you two and push!" shouted the leader of the group.

The two men subsided into silence and continued pushing, without anyone knowing of what they were doing.

The following next morning, the engines were resting in their shed when Oliver's crew came into the sheds waving a newspaper in a frantic way, "what's gotten you two so wound up?" Oliver asked.

"You know those donations boxes we often see at the stations?"

"Yes."

"Well you're not going to believe this, but someone has stolen them. The one at the big station, it's gone. The one at the Arlesdale station, it's gone. The one at..."

"They're all gone," said the fireman, interupting the Driver, "they were stolen last night when the stations were empty, nobody saw who stole them, but whoever did this got away with all the donations."

"Stealing from charities?" Gordon asked in complete shock, "that's disgraceful."

"It's just disgusting," said James.

"And dispicable too," added Henry crossly, "stealing is pointless if you ask me, but when you're stealing from those who have next to nothing for Christmas, well that's when someone is stepping over the line."

All the engines and their crews agreed with what Henry said.

A little later, Oliver arrived at the Alresdale Station with Isabel and Dulice and found Duck waiting for the passengers to board Alice and Mirabel, "hello Duck, did you hear about the theft of..."

"The donations boxes? Yes, I heard about it this morning when Donald's Driver came into the sheds, it's terrible to hear."

"Indeed," Oliver said in agreement, "really makes you wonder why they would do such a thing."

"Who knows," sighed Duck, "but the good news is that despite the theft of the donations, people are again donating more food, toys, clothes and everything else to make up for the stolen stuff."

"Where did you hear that?" Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nowhere, I've been seeing it ever since I came out of my shed this morning," Duck said and looked over to the platform. Oliver looked too and sure enough, residants from the nearby towns were giving donations to the employees of the charity groups.

"That's nice of them to do that," smiled Oliver, but then his smile faded, "mind you though, I would love to catch those thieves in the act and ask them why they did what they did...wait a second, I think I saw them."

"Where?" Duck and his crew asked in unison.

"Yesterday at the big station. There were three people standing around the donation box, at first I thought they were part of the charity group, but now I'm sure they are the thieves that stole all the donations."

"Do you remember what they looked like?" Duck asked. Oliver did remember what they looked like and told Duck and the two crews. Upon hearing this, Oliver's crew called the police and told them of what Oliver saw.

"Your engine has a good set of eyes there," said the police officer over the phone, "we'll be sure to keep an eye for these people."

But try as they might, the police could not find the thieves responsible for the robberies and worst still, as the days went by, more donation boxes were stolen from wherever they were placed. For a while, everyone thought that these thieves would get away with their crime, but that was due to change one evening.

Duck was coming into the big station with Alice and Mirabel, there were lots of passengers on board his train and even more waiting on the platform. As he came to a stop, he saw that another donation box had been put in the same spot where the original box was, this one was also full of donated items, but that wasn't all he saw.

Although there were lots of people on the platform, Duck saw some shaddy looking characters standing close to the donation box, they looked just like the people Oliver had described.

"I think that's them," Duck whispered to his crew, "They're the Donation Thieves."

The crew leaned out of the cab and looked, "I think you might be right Duck," whispered his Driver, "and if I had to take a guess, they're planning on stealing this dontation box too."

"They could be," whispered the fireman, but he was looking in a different direction, "there are some police officers in the station."

Indeed there was, several police officers were walking along on the platform, keeping an eye out for trouble. Then all of the sudden, something rolled in front of them and went 'BANG! BANG!'

"We're under attack!" cried one of the officers.

Passengers flew into a panic, except for the three men who threw what really was, fire crackers. They remained calm and got into position, getting ready to move the donation box, "They're going to steal it!" cried Duck, "we got to stop them!"

Duck's Driver ran out of the cab and tried to catch up to the thieves, but thanks to the paniced passengers, he couldn't get threw and the thieves were getting away.

"Crumps!" grumbled the fireman, "now how are we going to stop them?"

"Blow my whistle!" Duck cried, "get the officer's attention and hurry!"

His fireman didn't need telling twice, he pulled on the whistle chain hard. Duck sounded his whistle loud and long, which echoed all around the station. By this time, the officers had figured out that the banging sound was actually fire-crackers. When they heard Duck whistling, they looked to his direction and saw the thieves trying to get away with the donation box.

"They're getting away, let's go!"

The officers ran along the platform, but struggled to get through the crowds. The three men thought they had gotten away and they would've too, had it not been for Duck's Driver, who had finally gotten threw the crowds and was able to do a flying tackle on one of the men, stopping him from getting away.

"Cor blimey," exclaimed Duck, "I didn't know my Driver could do that."

The fireman left the cab and ran to help his friend. He ran until he got in front of the thieves, blocking their only chance to escape.

Thanks to the crew, the three thieves were not able to get away and were soon arrested by the police when they finally got threw the crowd, "it's a good thing you whistled to get our attention," said one officer to Duck's fireman, "otherwise these guys would've gotten away with the donations."

"Stupid engine," muttered the leader of the group, "we had a perfect thing going and you ruined it."

"You're welcome," Duck said with an innocent smile.

The man just growled under his breath while the officers just smiled at Duck.

When the Fat Controller heard, he came to the Arlesdale sheds to speak with Duck, "a fine piece of work indeed Duck," he said cheerfully, "thanks to you, the thieves have been caught and are now being dealt with by the police."

Oliver, Donald and Douglas were also pleased with Duck and his crew, "you're a Christmas hero Duck," Oliver said cheerfully.

"Aye, the wee engine is right," said Douglas in agreement, "weel done Duck, weel done."

"And weel done to yon crew too," added Donald.

"The people of the charity group are also pleased with you three," continued the Fat Controller, "so pleased that they want to take a picture of all of you, which they will give out when they make their deliveries this year just so everyone will know of what you three did."

The president of the charity group came by later that day and took more than several dozen pictures of the 'Christmas heroes' as Oliver had called them.

The thieves eventually told the police of where they were hiding all the donations and after finding them, the police gave the donations back to the charity group. Then over the next few weeks, the group gave out their donations to the deserving families and children at the hospital. With each delivery, there was a photograph of Duck and his crew and there was also a piece of paper telling the story of the Christmas Heroes.

Still, I bet you're wondering, why did the men steal the donations? Well sadly the men refuse to say the reason why they did what they did and continued saying that they would've gotten away had it not been for Duck and his crew. One thing's for sure though, they won't be doing anymore stealing for a long time as they are now serving time in jail for stealing and distrubing the peace at the big station. Maybe some time in jail will make them realize how stupid their plan was. We can only hope, can't we?

_**The End!**_


	14. No 55 Kristy the Branch Line Engine

_**Kristy the Branch Line Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_After a year of overhauling, Kristy the former LMS Scrapyard Engine has finally emerged from the workshops and was sent to work on Edward's Branch Line. Of course, she did have a problem with Bill and Ben at first, which nearly got her into serious trouble, but thankfully all is well and the three engines are the best of friends. I hope you will enjoy seeing Kristy back in action and hearing about her stories too._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-You Can Bank On It

-It's Rather Salty

-A Man on the Line

-Stop that Runaway!

_**You Can Bank on It**_

It was now August, the summer Olympic games were underway in London, people came from far and wide to see the railways of Sodor, the weather wasn't too warm and Kristy the Former LMS scrapyard engine's restoration was finally finished.

It was proven one day as Kristy emerged out of the shops with a new red undercoat.

"Red's not really my color," she groaned unhappily.

"Don't worry Kristy," said Wendell the Works Diesel, "it's only an undercoat, you'll be given a fresh coat of paint after your tests are done."

"Do the workmen know which color I would like to be?"

"I'm not sure, you'll have to ask them later when you're back in the shops."

Before the new paintjob was to be given to Kristy, there was the matter of the tests. Kristy had already failed one test, but now with the problem fixed, she was ready to try again. Her new Driver opened the regulator smoothly and Kristy rolled along slowly and smoothly down the siding for a short distance. Then, she was thrown into reserve and again rolled smoothly and slowly along the siding.

The next test was to move some trucks around the yard, she was backed onto a line of trucks, then she pulled them out of the siding. They weren't too pleased about that, "what right do you have taking us away from the siding?" they grumbled crossly to Kristy.

"It's part of my test," she answered, "they want me to pull you around, then I'll take you back to the siding."

"A complete waste of time," the trucks grumbled.

Despite the grumbling, Kristy performed that test quite well and soon had the trucks back in the siding with no trouble. Nearby, the workshop manager was watching Kristy doing her tests and using his clipboard, checked off every test Kristy had done well with a check-mark.

"Keep it up Kristy, you're doing quite well!" he called to her.

"Thank you sir," she called back to him.

Meanwhile, on the open main line, James was puffing along with the express. Gordon had gone away to London with many passengers and Athletes for the Olympic games, so until he came back, James, Henry, Pip and Emma often took the express in his place. Usually, the train runs without trouble, but there was trouble coming today.

There had been more passengers waiting at the platform of the big station, so James had to go collect two more coaches and add them onto the train. Now with all the express passengers on board, James was finding that the train was very heavy.

"Bust my boiler," he panted, "this is one heavy train, how do Pip and Emma do this when they have extra passengers?"

"James, quit talking and keep puffing!" cried out the fireman, "We're coming up to Gordon's hill now, we need all the steam you got!"

James responded with a will and soon charged past Wellsworth station and on towards Gordon's hill. They soon passed the place where James had been hit by water balloons, but at this point, James wasn't thinking about that day. He was focusing on getting to the top of the hill, "if I stop here, Gordon will never let me hear the end of it."

The Driver was getting anxious, "put more coal into the fire!" he cried to the fireman, "we're losing steam fast!"

"I'm going as fast as I can," panted the fireman and added more coal into the fire.

Despite his best efforts, James continued to lose steam and the train's speed started to go down until they were at a crawl. James struggled on as best as he could, but the hill was proving too much for the red engine, "I can't stop here! I can't!" he cried.

But with one final puff of smoke coming out of the funnel, James stopped at the crest of the hill.

"We'll definetly need a banker now," said the Driver, "I'll run back to Wellsworth and get help, you stay here and keep an eye on James."

With that confirmed, the Driver climbed down from the cab and after explaining to the guard of what was going on, he walked off to Wellsworth.

At this time, Kristy was puffing up the other side of the hill. Her next test was to take some empty china clay trucks to Wellsworth and bring back a small goods train to Crovan's Gate. She soon reached the top and began rolling down the other side when she spotted James and the stopped Express.

"Oh dear, I wonder if something's wrong," she thought to herself.

She was soon to find out. At Wellsworth, James' Driver had arrived back at the station and was telling the stationmaster about James stopping on the hill, "even if he gets enough steam back, he won't be able to climb the hill on his own. We need either Edward or BoCo."

"I'm sorry, but neither engine is available," said the stationmaster.

"What do you mean neither engine is available?" exclaimed the Driver just as Kristy arrived with her train of trucks.

"BoCo is down at the harbour arranging trucks for the next train and Edward's taking a stopping passenger train, we got no engine that can help James and the express up the hill."

"Excuse me sir," Kristy piped up, "I wouldn't mind helping James."

"I don't know," said the Stationmaster, "from what I was told by the Crovan's Gate works, you're only on trail until you get your official coat of paint."

"It doesn't really matter," said James' Driver, "the express can not be delayed. An engine on trail is better than no engine coming to help."

"Well..." the stationmaster thought about it for a moment, "okay, you talk me into it," then he turned to Kristy, "don't push yourself too hard, otherwise you'll break down and you'll have to go back into the workshops."

"I'll try my best sir," Kristy muttered quietly.

Once her trucks were in the siding and James' Driver had climbed into the cab, Kristy set off towards Gordon's hill. By now, James had built up a little more steam and was waiting for his Driver to return when he heard an unfamilar whistle coming up behind the express.

"Doesn't sound like any engine I know," he thought to himself.

Moments later, his Driver came up, "we got outselves a banker," he said, "we'll back the train down the hill, then we'll give it all we got."

"I sure hope whoever is at the back of the train can help us up the hill," said the fireman.

With his Driver back in his cab, James reserved to the bottom of the hill, then his crew and Kristy's crew placed plenty of sand on the rails.

"Peep! Peep! Are you ready?" James called to the back.

"Pip! Pip! Peep! I'm ready to push!" Kristy called back.

The engines dug their wheels into the sand and slowly but surely, started up the hill with the seventeen coaches in between them. Their wheels slipped at times and the train slowed down, but they didn't give up. Kristy especially, she was determined to get the express over the hill.

"Nearly there! Nearly there!" cried James.

Kristy didn't respond with words, she was focusing too much on her job and pushing with all her might.

It took a while, but soon, James and Kristy had gotten the express over the top of the hill and began rolling safely down the other side. Since she wasn't coupled on, Kristy stopped at the top and watched as James puffed away.

"Well done girl, that was splended," smiled her Driver and patted her on the boiler softly, "once we get back to Wellsworth, we'll let you have a small rest before we get back to the works station."

"Thank...you..." Kristy panted with the little breath she had and began making her way back to Wellsworth.

After a short rest, Kristy left the yards with her goods train back to the works. When she arrived, she found the manager waiting with a smile on his face, "That was remarkable Kristy, you got the express over the hill and you had no breakdowns, I'd say you're more than ready to go to Wellsworth, after you get your coat of paint."

"Speaking of which sir, can I ask what color it will be? Cause I was hoping for orange."

"Well Kristy, the color you will be painted in is...orange," he said proudly, "we knew it was your favourite color and we think you deserve it after today's performance." Hearing that, Kristy smiled broadly and puffed over to the shops for her new coat of orange paint.

_**It's Rather Salty**_

The following next day, Kristy emerged from the workshops, still carrying the letters and numbers of her old railway, but now she was in a proud bright orange paintjob.

"Don't you look smart," smiled Wendell, "I'd say you're ready to go help on Edward's Branch Line."

"Yeah I guess I am," she then turned her attention over to Toby, "Thank you for telling me all those wonderful stories and for being good company. I hope we can talk again someday."

"Oh I'm sure we will Kristy," Toby smiled. Then he watched as Kristy puffed away to the yards to collect another goods train. Already, Toby was starting to miss her.

Kristy did quite well on her journey and soon reached Edward's station where she found the old blue engine waiting for her.

"It's good to see you in service Kristy," Edward smiled, "there's alot of work that needs to be done."

"Well I'm ready to help Edward, what do you need me to do?"

"Well first off, you need to take some empty china clay trucks to the harbour. BoCo will show around and tell you just what you need to do."

At that moment, a guard's whistle blew and Edward departed with a stopping passenger train.

After Edward left, Kristy shunted her trucks into the goods yard, then she coupled up to the empty china clay wagons and puffed away to the harbour. When she arrived, she was amazed by the size of the docks and of everything that was going on.

"In all my years as a Scrapyard engine, I have never seen anything like this," she said to herself.

She continued to puff along until she came face to face with BoCo. He was arranging some china clay 'hoods' and tankers into one train to take to the Vicarstown. "Hello there," he called kindly, "you must be Kristy, Edward's told me about you. It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, uh...BoCo is it?"

"That would be me," smiled the big diesel.

Following their meeting, BoCo gave Kristy instructions on what to do until she knew what to do and proved it by shunting the empties into a siding and arranging a few more trucks to be taken away later, "I'd say you're ready for work now Kristy," said BoCo, "just a little advice though, watch out for Bill and Ben."

"Who?"

"They're the china clay twins, they bring down the china clay from the pits in the 'hoods', then they go back to get more. They can be a bit of a handful," he chuckled, remembering when he first met the twins, "but I'm sure they won't cause too much trouble for you."

Kristy thanked BoCo for all the advice, then she watched as he rumbled away before puffing off to start her work.

Sometime later, the twins arrived with more china clay hoods, they looked around and found Kristy sitting on one of the sidings.

"That's got to be the new engine," Bill whispered to his twin.

Ben looked and saw her, "quite lazy isn't she?" he asked, "probably going to leave us to do all the work."

The twins did indeed have to do the work by themselves as they shunted the 'hoods' and tankers into one train. What they didn't know was that Kristy had just come back after taking some china clay trucks to Wellsworth and was now resting while her crew was having lunch. To them though, the twins thought she was being lazy by not moving a single piston.

"Lazy engine," grumbled Bill.

Just then, the dockyard manager came up to speak with Bill's Driver, "there's a tanker I need you to add to this train," he said, "it's a water tanker full of salt water, it needs to go back to the yards of Knapford where it'll be emptied and cleaned out before being put back into service."

"Why is it full of salt water?" the Driver asked curiously.

"One of our workers forgot to close the lid and during the storm we had last night, salty sea water got sprayed into it," he answered.

The Dockyard manager told them of where to get the tanker, then Bill puffed off to get it. As he reached the siding, he saw Kristy, still sitting there, doing nothing.

"Hello," she said kindly, "you must be Ben...or is it Bill?"

"It's Bill," Bill muttered angerily threw his teeth.

At that moment, Kristy's crew arrived. The fireman climbed into the cab and checked the water gauge, "uh oh, that's not good. Kristy won't have enough water to get back to Wellsworth," he said, "we'll have to fill up before we leave."

Upon hearing this, a plan snuck into Bill's head. He grinned, thinking that it would be the perfect way to get back at Kristy.

"Uh you can't," Bill piped up, "the water column is under repairs right now."

"Then where am I going to get the water?" Kristy asked nervously, "I can't get to Wellsworth without any water in my tanks."

"You'll get there if you fill your tank up with the water in this tanker behind me, which I'm adding to your train," he said with an innocent expression of his face, "when you run low on water, just fill your tanks with this."

"I guess we could do that," said Kristy, sighing with relief, "you are a clever engine Bill."

"Well I do have my moments," he said and puffed off with the tanker. Once he was out of sight of Kristy, a smirk came across his face, he thought for sure that his plan would work.

When he reached the train, he shunted the water tanker in front of the train, then he puffed off to join Ben. Right away, Ben could see the smirk on Bill's face, "You're up to something and I want to know what it is."

"Simple, I'm going to give that new engine a nasty taste on her next journey," he said cheekily.

When Ben was told of the plan, he smirked, thinking that Bill was very clever, but he wasn't. It is dangerous for steam engines to run with salt water in their tanks, it can clog up the works and make things hard for the engine.

Kristy, unaware of what was _really_ in the first tanker, departed from the docks once coupled up to her train.

She made good timing with her train, but soon she started to run low on water, "we'll pull into the siding on the passing loop," said the Driver, "and we'll fill her tanks with the water from that tanker."

Once stopped in the loop, the Driver phoned ahead to Control, who changed the points while the fireman filled Kristy's tanks with the help of a hose. "That should fill you up in no time," smiled the fireman.

And he was right, within minutes, the tank was soon filled with the salty water, then once Edward had passed with some empty china clay hoods and tankers, Kristy set off to Wellsworth.

It wasn't long though before she began to fill thirsty, "I need a drink please!" She called to her crew.

The Driver responded by opening the injector, giving Kristy the drink she needed, but she didn't like it, "yuck!" she groaned, "it tastes terrible!"

But taste wasn't the only terrible thing that Kristy was going to experience. Shortly after getting her drink, Kristy began to feel weak and her speed decreased, "I don't feel so good," she groaned.

"Kristy shouldn't be slowing down, we just gave her water...unless..."

"Unless what?" asked the Driver.

"Bring Kristy to a stop, I want to check the water in that tanker."

The Driver eased in the brakes and Kristy slowed to a stop, then the fireman climbed down from the cab and walked over to the tanker. Moments later, he shouted to the Driver, "put the fire out! It's salt water!"

"Salt water?!" exclaimed Kristy in shock.

The Driver didn't need telling twice, he quickly put the fire out and got out his mobile to call for help.

It wasn't long before BoCo arrived and after being coupled up, he towed Kristy and the china clay trucks to Wellsworth. The Stationmaster was waiting for them when they arrived, "how did this happen?" he asked, "why was Kristy's tanks full of salt water?"

"We didn't know the tanker was full of salt water sir," answered the Driver, "we thought..."

"Hold on a second, why did you fill her tanks with the water in that tanker? There is a water column near the harbour yards."

"According to one of those china clay twins, it was under repair," Kristy answered.

BoCo sighed unhappily, "I'm afraid to say this, but you've been tricked by the twins," he said to Kristy, "the water column isn't broken, it hasn't given any troubles for months."

"Why those little..." Kristy groaned but went silent as the Stationmaster stared at her.

"We'll deal with the twins later," he said, "for now though, BoCo; I would like you to take Kristy to the works, they'll have to check to see if any damage was done from the salt water."

"Yes sir," said BoCo and rumbled away with his china clay train and with Kristy, growling crossly under her breath.

_**A Man on the Line**_

When Edward found out of what the twins did, he scolded them when he got to the harbour, "Do you two know of how dangerous your little game was?" he asked sternly.

"Oh come on Edward," chuckled Bill, "it's just water with a bad taste, where's the harm in that?"

"There's plenty of harm, salt wagon is bad for a steam engine's water tanks," he explained, "it clogs up the works and make them come to a hault like what happened to Kristy today, and in some cases, the engine may never work again."

"I didn't know that," Bill gulped nervously.

"Don't blame me on this Edward," Ben piped up, "it was all Bill's idea, I only said she was being lazy by sitting in the sidings."

"She wasn't being lazy," said a stern sounding voice, it was the Dockyard manager, "her crew was on a lunchbreak, plus she was resting after shunting and taking some china clay trucks long before you two arrived."

When the twins heard this, they looked at each other with shamed looks on their faces.

"Kristy will have to stay at the works for a while," the manager continued, "but luckily the Fat Controller is going to send Donald to help with the china clay deliveries. I expect no trouble from you two or a scolding will be the least of your concerns."

Bill and Ben gulped and promised to be on their best behavior, but someone else wasn't...

A couple of days later, BoCo was heading back to the harbour with a train of empty china clay trucks. He was having a good run and the china clay trucks were on their best behaviour, all was going well - that was until BoCo saw something horrifing laying in between the rails up ahead.

"Someone's on the line!" BoCo cried to his Driver.

His Driver saw the person too and worst still, the person was not moving. BoCo sounded his horn, but still he didn't move an inch. BoCo shut his eyes as he rolled up to that section of line, he was worried for the person - that was until he heard the guard shout out; "are you stupid or something? That was dangerous!"

This was followed by laughter and then the person ran away.

"What's so funny about laying in between the rails?" BoCo asked with a shaky tone in his voice, "it's a scary thing to do, not to mention stupid."

When he got to the dockyards, BoCo found Donald at the water tower and told him about his encounter down the line.

"Tis probably the result of ideas that pop into yon head," said Donald, "Douggie and I have heard terrifin' stories of people doin' dangerous stunts ta see if they wurk, but sometimes they dinna wurk oot as planned."

"Well I wish that person hadn't tried what they did," groaned BoCo, "it scared me badly."

"It could've been worse," said Edward as he shunted his trucks into a long line, "if this person had moved, then they would be in trouble, but what would be terrifing is if this person had done it in front of us steam engines."

"Indeed," agreed Donald's fireman, "considering that you blow off hot steam from below and you got a firebox underneath your cab, that's double the trouble and very dangerous."

By now, Bill and Ben had finished shunting the rest of Donald's trucks, they didn't say a word and they didn't pull a single trick.

Donald just glared at them angerily as he backed down on the train and once coupled up, Donald set off down the line with the china clay hoods and tankers.

"Yoo want ta knaw whit I think?" Donald said to his crew during the journey, "I think yon stupid ideas should stay in head, ya knaw."

"Yes, we agree with you there Donald," said his Driver, "but try to say that to someone who's willing to try their ideas, you're never going to get threw to them."

"Sometimes the only way they'll find out how bad their ideas are is for them to learn the lesson the hard way," said the fireman.

"But at least dinna gettin' hurt."

"Or worse," muttered the Driver.

Further down the line, the same man from before was back and he had a movie camera in his hands. He liked to take dangerous risks and film it so that way he could show his stunts to everyone on the World Wide Web.

"Now Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm going to try the same stunt I pulled earlier," he said with the camera pointing at him, "I'm going to lay down in between the two rails here while a train goes over me. It worked the first time and I'm sure it will again," he finished with a chuckle, but he hadn't counted on Donald.

Donald was making good timing, the trucks were behaving well and he had a good head of steam. All was going well for Donald, that was until he saw something which made him gasp in horror.

"Och, a person's on oor line!" he cried.

The fireman leaned out the cab to look and gasped, "stop the train now!" he shouted to the Driver loudly.

"I can hear you and I can see him," said the Driver, who went for the brake handle at once.

The man didn't move an inch, except when he looked up to his camera, "you can probably see the train now," he said, "this is going to be fun."

Donald's fireman grabbed the whistle chain and blew it loud and long. The man gasped, "oh no, I didn't want a steam engine, I wanted a diesel!" Now he was regretting ever doing this, but there was no chance for him to get to safety in time. Despite slowing down, Donald was still going too fast, which wouldn't have given the person a chance to escape, so all he could do was lay there in between the rails and wait for the train to pass.

Donald ran over that section of track, hot steam flew everywhere, making it very hot for the person underneath him. Sparks also flew from his brakes as he tried to stop, some landed on the person's jacket, which really hated things up.

The man wanted to get rid of his jacket, but he had to wait while the train rolled past him.

His wait was going to be a long one as Donald had over twenty trucks behind him. Donald's fireman looked back and saw smoke and went straight for the regulator, making Donald speed up.

"Whit are yoo doing'?" Donald asked.

"Saving that person's life," the fireman answered, "you'll see what I mean in a minute."

At last, for what seemed like forever, the brake van rolled past the man, "Finally!" he cried. He got up from the rails and threw down his jacket, luckily the flames hadn't gotten to him, "whew, that was too close," he groaned and then noticed patches of oil on it, "maybe I should've cleaned that jacket before doing this."

"Maybe you shouldn't have done it at all!" shouted a voice. The man looked and saw the guard run up to him as Donald's train came to a stop.

Moments later, both the Driver and fireman ran up to the man, looking very angry. The Driver was about to scold the man when he noticed the video camera. He picked it up, watched a bit of the footage, then walked up to the man, "so it was you who sat in front of BoCo earlier huh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

"I was trying to have a little bit of fun," said the man.

"You call sitting underneath a living breathing steam engine fun?" asked the fireman, "cause it sure didn't look like fun from where I was."

"That part I hadn't counted on, I was hoping that diesel would pass by again cause my footage from before didn't come out perfectly, I wasn't expecting to see you and that steamer."

"Well I hope from today's experience you will learn something, don't lay down in front of an oncoming train, diesel or steam, it's completely dangerous."

"Oh yes I've leaned that lesson," said the man, "I promise I won't do that again. I'll post a video stating that promise as soon as I get home."

"Right, after you have a word with the police," said the Driver angerily, "we're not letting you off the hook that easily. You trespassed on railway property for your stupid stunt and I'm sure they would love to have a word with you about that."

Instead of trying to run away, the man was co-operative and followed the guard to his van for the journey to Wellsworth.

With him on board now, Donald was safe to continue on his journey. Thankfully, nobody else tried to lay down in front of his train and they soon reached Wellsworth with no more trouble.

Once there, the Driver phoned the police and they soon took the man away to their station.

"I da hope that he's learned a lesson after his litta experience today," Donald said afterwords, "and that he shouldna try that again."

Thankfully the man did learn that lesson and when he got home, he did post that video saying he would never try dangerous stunts again and says that the only thing he'll let the engines roll over is a coin that he will place on the rails long before the train comes into view.

_**Stop that Runaway!**_

While salt water might do some damage to a steam engine, Kristy was quite lucky that the salt water didn't do too much damage and after her tanks had been properly cleaned out and the little repairs had been made, she returned to Brendam Bay Harbour to continue with her work. As she worked though, she never did say a single word to Bill and Ben, she was still cross with them.

"Of all the tricks they could've played on me, they had to go and pull some stupid trick like that," she grumbled to anyone who listened.

Very wisely, Bill and Ben kept their distance from Kristy. The months passed and the seasons changed, but Kristy and the China Clay twins never said a word to each other, but that was due to change one day.

It was a cloudy day and Kristy was sitting near a water tower taking on water after delivering some trucks to the yards.

As she rested, BoCo came into the yards with some trucks clattering and grumbling him. One of the trucks was Fred, the orange truck who took a swim earlier in the year. Despite the swim, he had not learned sense and continued with his antics, which is what he was doing today by ordering the trucks to hold back and make BoCo's trip a misery.

"Seems those china clay twins aren't the only ones playing stupid tricks," muttered Kristy darkly.

BoCo's Driver climbed down and took a look at his engine, "your engine is overheating BoCo, you're not going anywhere for a while until it's cooled down."

He then looked over to Kristy and called out to her and her crew, "can you take the trucks for us?" he called out and explained BoCo's problem.

"Of course we can," said Kristy's Driver, "we're heading off back to the harbour anyways, so we'll be more than glad to take them."

"Just be careful on the way back," BoCo advised, "Especially with Fred, he'll try to make your trip a misery."

"And I will," Fred muttered in a cheeky way.

BoCo was uncoupled and moved into a siding, then Kristy backed down onto the train, bumping the trucks firmly as she did, "alright you lot, no tricks on the way!"

"Oh we'll give you trouble," snickered Fred.

Kristy heard nothing and departed once the guard was ready. The trucks held back at first, but stopped after a few good bumps. Kristy thought it was because of her being firm with them, but it wasn't her, it was because Fred had a plan.

"She's thinking that we'll hold back," he said to the other trucks, "but she's going to be proven wrong. Wait till we reached the hill, then we'll teach her a lesson on how we trucks do things."

Moments later, the rain began to fall, but the train rolled on smoothly down the line right up to when they got to the hill.

"Get ready Kristy," warned her Driver, "The trucks might try something on the hill, don't give up and we'll get over it with no trouble."

Kristy was ready for the fight, but was surprised when they started climbing up the hill beyond the passing loop that the trucks didn't hold back, "maybe they've learned not to mess with this former Scrapyard Engine," she thought to herself, but she was going to be proven wrong.

They soon reached the top, then..."Now!" shouted Fred, "push lads like you're being payed for it!"

"Go on! On! On! On!" laughed the trucks.

Kristy and her crew were taken by surprise, they shot quickly down the hill and rolled threw the countryside going much too fast.

"Should've known those stupid trucks would try something," groaned Kristy.

Her Driver went for the brake handle, but didn't reach it as Fred and the trucks bumped Kristy hard, knocking him off his feet, "you're not stopping us this time!" shouted Fred.

The fireman tried to go for the brake handle, but the trucks bumped Kristy again and knocked him down.

"Stop bumping back there you stupid trucks!" she shouted.

"No!" they all shouted in unison, "we'll push until you come off the rails!" And they laughed in their silly way.

It was then that Kristy remembered the docks were further down the line and if she didn't stop in time, there would get into a serious accident and innocent people and engines would get hurt.

"We have to stop these trucks," she said to her crew, "we can't let them damage the docks or worse, hurt someone."

"Right you are Kristy," groaned her Driver as he got up, "and that's what we're going to do, stop them at all costs!"

Fred and the trucks continued to bump Kristy, but thankfully the Driver was able to hold onto the rails holding Kristy's cab roof up, then he slowly walked to the brake handle and opened it wide.

Kristy's brakes came on quickly, sparks flew from them, but the train would not slow down.

"Maybe we should try reserve," said the fireman, "maybe that will help slow us down."

"It just might work," said the Driver, "let's give it a try."

He released the brakes, then he opened the reserver while Kristy's fireman sounded the whistle loud and long to warn anyone that they were coming. Kristy's wheels spun furiously aganist the trucks and although the train was slowing down, it was still going too fast to stop in time before reaching the docks.

"We can only hope that no one's on our track," groaned the fireman.

But someone was on their track, it was Bill, who was shunting some more china clay trucks into place for Kristy to take. He had just finished when suddenly he heard Kristy's whistle in the distance.

"She probably wants me to leave right now," he groaned unhappily.

"I don't think that's why she's whistling to us," said Bill's Driver, "I think she's in trouble."

He was soon to be proven right as Kristy came into the docks with the stupid trucks pushing and rattling behind her.

"Come on! Stop! Stop! STOP!" Kristy groaned, then she saw Bill.

She put all her weight and effort aganist the trucks, but still they grew closer and closer to Bill, "bump them! Make them crash!" cheered Fred.

"Oh no you don't!" screamed Kristy.

"She won't be able to stop!" cried the fireman. He and the Driver quickly jumped out of the cab while Bill shunt his eyes tight and awaited the horrible crash...but it never came.

He opened one eye slowly and saw that Kristy had stopped with inches to spare in between their buffers.

"Whew!" gasped Kristy, "that was close."

"You said it," agreed Bill. "Listen Kristy, as long as you're here, I want to say something to you...I'm sorry for the horrible trick I played on you. I didn't know that salt water is dangerous for a steam engine."

"Well it is," Kristy said firmly, but then changed her tone of voice, "but I'm glad you owned up Bill, I accept your apology, as long as you don't try anything like that ever again."

"I promise you that I won't, not if it hurts you badly," then he added, "the only ones I'm going to hurt are those trucks for their stupid antics."

"I'm okay with that," Kristy smiled.

Once she got her breath back, Kristy shunted the trucks out of the way, then when Ben arrived and apologized for calling Kristy 'lazy', the tank engine twins biffed and bashed the trucks while Kristy had her brakeblocks looked over.

After that day, Kristy and the China Clay twins became really good friends. The twins still play tricks from time to time, but they now know better than to play dangerous tricks on others.

As for Kristy, she enjoys working on the branch line. She often takes the passenger trains or other goods trains when Edward and BoCo are busy, but you'll often find her working at the harbour, working with her cheeky tank engine friends, Bill and Ben - but she still keeps on them and their ways, just to be on the safe side.

_**The End!**_


	15. No 56 Sudrian Winter Engines

_**Sudrian Winter Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_As recalled back in 2010, I wrote up a book featuring the Fat Controller's engines in the winter. While they were pleased to have a book about their adventures, apart for James, there were others that were angry at me, namely Duncan. He was at the Talyllyn Railway workshops getting ready for his overhaul and when his Driver showed him that book, he flew into a rant and asked why weren't the other engines featured. The Thin Controller called me on the matter and I went to see Duncan, "I didn't mean to exclude all of you," I said to him, "I guess I was focusing alot on the North Western engine's own adventures that I didn't think of asking you if you had any adventures during that time." To help calm him down, I've written up this book featuring the other railways and the roadways of Sodor and included a story of Duncan before he went in for his overhaul. I hope this will make him happy._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Duncan and the Snowstorm

-Mike the Snow Engine

-Bill Slips Up

-Trevor's Christmas Surprise

_**Duncan and the Snowstorm**_

December came, but it still felt like September to many as the weather was quite nice and warm. Duncan the Little engine didn't even notice, he wasn't feeling well as he puffed along the line with whatever train he had behind him.

"I feel like my boiler's going to burst," he groaned threw his teeth, "but Sir Handel says I'm making a mountain out of a molehole."

"I don't think you're making this up old boy," said his Driver, "everytime we do go out, you do lose alot of steam and we often have to stop you halfway threw the journey. I think your boiler is reaching the end of it's working life."

"Sounds like it's time for an overhaul for you Duncan," added the fireman.

It wasn't just them who were thinking that Duncan needed an overhaul. The Thin Controller and Mr. Hugh had noticed that Duncan wasn't performing as well as he used to and came to the same conclusion that he needed to go to the works as soon as possible.

However, it wasn't going to be happening at the Crovan's Gate works mostly because they were full of either engines under repair or were in for overhauls of their own. The Talyllyn Railway, where Duncan's own twin lives and works, had offered to take Duncan in and overhaul him and as a thank you, the Thin Controller said they could borrow Duncan for a month after the overhaul was complete.

Duncan was pleased with this, but not Sir Handel, "I should've been chosen to go to the Talyllyn Railway, I need an overhaul too."

"You had one three years ago Sir Handel," reminded Ivo Hugh, "they mended you quite well as I seem to recall you saying to us once."

"Besides, it's part of the deal the Thin Controller made with the Talyllyn Railway's own controller," said Skarloey, "they overhaul Duncan, then he helps out with their work for a whole month."

"Just for the record Duncan," Sir Handel piped up, "you might have to pull trucks too."

"That's fine," Duncan said with a smirk, which came as a surprise to Sir Handel and Ivo Hugh. Normally, Duncan doesn't like pulling trucks, but being given the chance to go to Wales like Peter Sam and Sir Handel before him, he didn't mind if he had to pull goods trains. "I can't wait to see Douglas again," he added.

"Douglas?" Ivo Hugh asked, "you mean the Scottish engine?"

"No not _that_ Douglas, I was talking about my twin, he's the Talyllyn's own No 6, just like me. I haven't seen him since we were first built, so it'll be nice to meet up with him and catch up on old times."

"Who are you?" Ivo Hugh asked again, "and what have you done with our Duncan?"

Duncan pretended that he didn't hear that question and looked out a window, thinking of his trip to the Talyllyn Railway.

Several days later, the weather changed. Snow fell over night and by morning, the countryside was covered in white snow with more coming down, "bothersome snow," grumbled Sir Handel, "it's too cold to work in, I want to rest in the shed like Duncan."

"Duncan has to rest in the shed for safety reasons," said his Driver, "but you are in fine shape and don't need to stay in the shed."

"But I..."

"Do you want me to get the Thin Controller over here?" asked the fireman, "cause I can get him if you want me to."

"There's no need to do that," Sir Handel pleaded, "I'll behave."

And without another word, Sir Handel puffed out of the sheds and over to the yards. The fireman chuckled to the Driver, "that gets to him everytime, doesn't it?"

After collecting Millicent and Gertrude, Sir Handel puffed off to the station where Gordon was waiting with the passengers, "it's unfair when you think about it Gordon," Sir Handel said to him, "sensible express engines like our good selves shouldn't have to puff in this cold stuff."

"Well I'll admit I'm not too fond of the cold, it's not really that bad," said Gordon, then he added with a chuckle, "As long as you don't puff in a blizzard like a certain red engine I know did once."

"Thank goodness this isn't a blizzard then," Sir Handel muttered, but he still didn't like the snow.

Soon all the passengers from Gordon's coaches had climbed into Sir Handel's coaches, the guard blew the whistle and Sir Handel puffed slowly out of the station.

Sir Handel made good timing as he puffed along the line. He never once had a wheel slip and he had a good head of steam, but the cold didn't help his temper at all.

"It's cold and I don't like it, it's cold and I don't like it," he grumbled to himself.

At the end of the line, Sir Handel was uncoupled from his coaches and taken over to the water tower. The water felt cold as it flowed into his tank, "I wonder if this is what James felt that day," he groaned.

The fireman was also feeling the cold, despite wearing warm clothes.

"Please tell me that you got something warm in that cab," he shivered to the Driver.

"Yes and it's called Sir Handel's fire," he said.

"Very funny," the fireman said sarcastically.

It wasn't long before Sir Handel's tank was filled with the cold water. The fireman was relieved and climbed down after removing the water tower hose, but he was so focused on getting warmed up that he forgot to close the cap for Sir Handel's tank.

Unaware of this, Sir Handel was taken over to the station where he got coupled up to his coaches, then he departed after hearing the guard's whistle blow.

Everytime the wind blew aganist him, Sir Handel shivered uncomfortably, "too cold, too cold," he grunted threw his teeth.

Then there was trouble, Sir Handel began to slow down and his steam preasure decreased, "what's going on here?" asked the Driver, then he looked out the cab window and saw the cap for the water tank was not sitting on top of the tank, "I think you forgot to do something back at the station."

"What would that...uh oh, I forgot to put the cap back on," groaned the fireman, slapping his forehead hard.

And because he had forgotten to do that, the water in Sir Handel's tank had frozen and that's why he was losing steam preasure. Sir Handel struggled on as best as he could, but soon came to a stop on the main line.

"Well that's torn it, Sir Handel's not going anywhere with his tank completly full of ice," groaned the Driver, "guess we'll have to get help."

"And we better make it quick," said the fireman as he looked up to the now dark grey sky, "I think we're going to be getting another snowstorm in the next few minutes."

The Driver got out his mobile phone and phoned the Thin Controller's office, "don't worry Driver, we'll send help right away," said the Thin Controller.

After getting off the phone, he went out to the yards to speak with Mr. Hugh, "Sir Handel's stranded out on the main line," he said, "are there any engines available that can help him?"

Mr. Hugh shook his head, "I'm afraid not sir," he said, "the other engines are all out with their own jobs, except one..."

He looked back to the sheds, "can Duncan help?"

"I don't know sir," said Mr. Hugh, "he could break down and then we would need help for two engines - on the other hand though, it might be hours before the next engine comes to the yards and from the looks of the storm that's coming in, Sir Handel and those passengers don't have hours."

"Agreed," the Thin Controller sighed as he looked up to the dark clouds, then he looked back to the sheds, "get Duncan fired up and send him to the rescue."

Duncan was snoozing when Mr. Hugh and the Thin Controller came into the shed, "hello sirs," he yawned, "has the lorry arrived yet?"

"Not yet Duncan," said the Thin Controller, "and that's not the reason we woke you up," he then told Duncan about the water in Sir Handel's tank freezing, "I know you need the rest, but we can't let the passengers down right?"

"Right sir," said Duncan.

"So will you help out Duncan?"

"Of course I will," he said with a determined smile.

It didn't take long for Mr. Hugh to light the fire, then once Duncan had a full head of steam, he and the Thin Controller took Duncan out of the sheds and out to the open main line.

By the time they reached Sir Handel, the snow was falling down harder than it was before.

"You'll do anything to get out of working in the snow won't you Sir Handel?" Duncan asked cheekily.

Sir Handel pulled a face, but didn't say a single word, he was too cold to say anthing anyways.

By the time Duncan had been coupled up, the snowstorm was at it's worst, "okay Duncan, it's not going to be easy to get back to the yards," the Thin Controller said to him, "and we know you're not feeling well, so don't strain yourself and do your best okay?"

"I'll do my best sir," said Duncan.

With a toot of his whistle, Duncan was on his way. It wasn't easy for Duncan, his steam preasure often dropped and the snow made it difficult to see a single thing, but Duncan was determined.

"If Peter Sam can manage in a huge thuderstorm and Edward can make it home with no siderods, I can surely do this," Duncan thought to himself and put a little more effort into his puff. He struggled on, feeling as though his boiler would burst, but he kept on turning his wheels until at long last, they reached the junction where Edward was waiting for the passengers.

"Well done Duncan, well done!" cheered Edward and his crew in unison.

Despite the fierce storm, the passengers came to the front of the train and thanked the men and Duncan, "it was nothing," Duncan said modestly, "we couldn't just leave you out in the snowstorm, as Duke would say, it would never suit his Grace."

After a few minutes rest, Duncan puffed away with the coaches and Sir Handel.

Once in the yards, he shunted the coaches into the coach shed, then he and Sir Handel went back into their shed. When they arrived, they found some of the other engines all waiting for them, they cheered loudly for Duncan and told him how proud they were of him.

"I'm also proud of you Duncan," said the Thin Controller, "despite not feeling your best, you went to the rescue and helped Sir Handel and the passengers home. I'd say you've come a long way since you first came here."

"Thank you sir," Duncan smiled.

"Now get some rest, you're going to need it, cause as soon as that lorry gets here, you're going to the Talyllyn," the Thin Controller said cheerfully. Duncan just smiled and once his fire had been dropped, he went to sleep while the men worked on melting the ice in Sir Handel's tank.

_**Mike the Snow Engine**_

Many people think that the Small Railway engines don't work in the winter, but that's not true at all. Although there aren't many passengers on their trains, there are still ballast and goods runs to keep them busy so there's never a moment's rest for the engines. Mike doesn't mind the work considering he loves to pull ballast trucks all the time and not even snow can stop him from doing his work.

A couple of nights after the big snowstorm, Mike was backing into the sheds slowly. His Driver went to apply the brakes, but found that they weren't working properly.

"Stop!" Mike cried, "Stop!"

"I'm trying," groaned the Driver.

Try as he might, he couldn't get Mike to stop and the little red engine's tender went bashing into the back wall with a bang. Mike hadn't been going too fast to cause any serious damage, but his tender had come off the rails after hitting the wall.

"Ow!" groaned Mike.

"Are you trying to be a figure skater Mike?" Rex asked cheekily, "this is the perfect time of the year for you to become one."

"Shut up Rex!" snapped Mike, "that was not funny."

"Faulty brakes never are funny," said Blister II, one of the maintenance diesels, "you should probably tell the Small Controller before you end up running away like Thomas did."

"Or smash threw the buffers like Douglas did," added Bert.

"He won't need to go to the workshops," said Mike's Driver, "I'll fix Mike's brakes here and now."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Lucas asked with a concerned look on his face.

"Of course I know what I'm doing," answered the Driver, "I was working in the Crovan's Gate workshops long before I became Mike's Driver, I worked on dozens of steam engines, so these brakes shouldn't be a problem for me to deal with."

Lucas wasn't enterily sure about that, "I have a feeling that Mike might get into trouble because of this," he thought to himself.

He had every right to worry, it had been at least eleven years since Mike's Driver had _officially_ worked on a steam engine's brakes and overtime, he had forgotten on how to do the work, but that wasn't going to stop him.

The next day, Mike was puffing back to the yards with loaded ballast trucks. His brake handle had been very stiff, but the brakes had worked perfectly throughout the day.

"See Lucas," the Driver called as they passed him, "I told you that I knew what I was doing."

"Only time will tell for sure," muttered the small engine to himself.

Mike had no trouble throughout the day, but during each run, the Driver found that the brake handle got stiffer with each use. Finally at the end of the day, the Driver brought a tired Mike back to the sheds and braked him to a stop with some space in between his tender and the wall.

"That brake handle sure has been stiff today," the Driver thought to himself, "I should probably fix that up."

But then he noticed that Mike was fast asleep. The Driver didn't feel like disturbing Mike's sleep, so he decided to leave that bit of work for tomorrow. He put out the fire, then he headed off for home, but what he didn't know was that he hadn't put the fire out completely, nor did he know that the brakes hadn't been applied probably. They were due to find out soon though.

Bert was sleeping when he heard steam wheesing from somewhere in the shed, "who's up?" he asked with a yawn, "it's far too late to be doing any work."

"It's Mike," Lucas whispered to Bert, "he's still in steam and he's moving."

Bert opened his sleepy eyes a little more and saw that Mike was indeed moving. His fire had built up since the Driver left and with his brakes off, the steam in his pistons were now turning his wheels.

"Mike! Wake up Mike!" Bert shouted.

But Mike was in a sound sleep and didn't hear them, nor did he feel the shed doors when he bashed into them and rolled out onto the open main line.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before something happened to Mike," said Lucas.

Bert and Blister II, who had been woken up by the crash at the door, both shouted out to Mike, but it was no use. Mike was rolling away and soon he had disappeared from their view.

When the crews arrived next morning, Mike's Driver was surprised to find that his engine was nowhere to be seen, "Where did he go?" he asked in surprise.

"He rolled away last night," said Lucas, "you didn't put out the fire properly and I don't think his brakes were on properly."

"Oh no," groaned the Driver, slapping his forehead hard.

Bert's Driver walked over to his engine, "come on boy, we better go find Mike and see if he's gotten into trouble."

Once his fire had been built up, Bert puffed out of the sheds and out onto the main line. They puffed along, shouting out Mike's name, "do you see him yet?" asked the Driver.

"Not yet," said Bert, "it's amazing how far an engine can go with faulty brakes and with a relit fire."

They continued their search until they reached the Green, the sight of Rex's accident.

They found Mike underneath the bridge, still fast asleep and covered in snow that had fallen down on top of him the night before, "well Rex always says that Mike is a hard sleeper," muttered Bert.

"At least the snow stopped him and put out his fire," said the Driver, "but we can't leave him here, we better get him up."

Bert's Driver sounded the whistle loud and long, which finally got Mike up.

"Huh? What? Is it morning already...hey, what am I doing outside and covered in snow?"

"Long story Mike, we'll explain on the way back," Bert said to him.

Using a strong chain, Bert pulled his hardest until Mike finally came out of the snowdrift, then they set off back to the yards.

Mike's Driver and the Small Controller were waiting back at the yards for them. They were shivering as they stood there, but finally, Bert arrived with Mike in tow.

Rex, who was waiting with an empty ballast train, saw them coming in and laughed, "what's so funny?" Mike grunted threw his teeth.

"You look like Jolly old Saint Nick with your red paint and all that snow on you," he chuckled. Mike growled crossly, "okay maybe not jolly."

The Small Controller walked up to Mike, "I'm glad to see you're not hurt Mike, but I am confused as to how you escaped in the middle of the night."

"It's my fault sir," owned up Mike's Driver and explained everything, "but I thought Mike would've been okay," he finished.

"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, it's better if you just leave this kind of work to the workmen in the shops. Your Do-it-yourself repair work will only land you in trouble as we see now with Mike being a snow engine."

"I understand sir and I'm sorry," apologized the Driver.

"Apology accepted," the Small Controller then turned his attention back to Mike, "once that snow has been cleared off you, you can go into the workshops to have those brakes of yours fixed."

"Wait sir," Rex piped up cheekily, "why not leave Mike like that? I think the children who visit would love to see a real life snow engine."

"Oh shut up Rex!" Mike snapped crossly threw his chattering teeth.

_**Bill Slips Up**_

_**Based on the Season 9 Episode "Keeping Up with James"**_

__Work at the china clay works had decreased with the arrival of the winter season. Ben didn't seem to mind as he was always taking the china clay trains while Bill stayed in his shed, "it's not fair," he grumbled to Ben one night in their sheds, "I don't want to stay in the shed all the time, I want to get back to work."

"I thought you'd be used to staying in the shed all the time," chuckled Ben, "considering all the trouble you get yourself into."

Bill was about to protest, but went silent as the china clay pits manager came in to see the twins, "Bill, I know you've been stuck in the shed ever since the snow came, but I have found some suitable work for you to do," he said, "the Ffarquhar branch line's harbour is getting busy with the winter season and they need another engine to help out with the heavy workloads."

"Since Toby is still in the workshops," he continued, "I have suggested that you could go work there for a bit, would you like that?"

"Oh yes sir, I would like that greatly," Bill said proudly.

The following next morning, Bill was loaded onto a flatbed, then after Kristy had shunted him onto BoCo's train, he was sent out on his way to the junction for the branch line.

Upon arrival, he was given a grand welcome from Thomas, but he still gave Bill a firm warning, "watch out for those trucks down at the harbour. You play any tricks on them and they'll pay you out."

"Oh you don't need to worry about me Thomas," Bill said proudly, "I think I know how to handle trucks."

"We'll soon see," Thomas muttered.

After Bill had been unloaded from the flatbed and his fire had been lit, he set off towards the harbour. Percy was hard at work when Bill arrived, he quickly told him of what he had to do and soon the two engines were working proudly around the harbour yards and having a great afternoon.

There was alot of work that needed to be done and by the time the engines were done, it was already nighttime.

"Good thing we're done for the night," sighed Bill's Driver as he parked him into the Ffarquhar branch line sheds, "we're suppose to be getting freezing rain tonight and it wouldn't be safe for us to be working during that time."

"Indeed not," agreed the fireman, "we'd probably slide right into the water."

They put the fire out, then they set off for a good night's rest. Bill's driver was indeed correct about the freezing rain, it came later that evening making snowdrifts harder than they should be and forming ice on the roads and on the rails.

By morning, a special sanding train had to be called upon to place more sand on the rails, but it couldn't be everywhere at once, so everyone had been warned to take it easy out on the line.

"I don't know what they're so worried about," Bill said to his Driver as they made their way to the harbour station, "it's just a little ice, it can't hurt anyone."

"Have you forgotten about BoCo's accident a couple of years ago?" asked the Driver, "he crashed into a snowdrift after some foolish boys froze the points with water, which made ice."

Bill had indeed forgotten about that accident, but still he continued on at the same speed he was going at.

His driver was worried and began to apply the brakes, but with thick ice on the rails, it made stopping impossible and Bill went sliding along the rails, "Stop! Stop!" cried the Driver.

But Bill wasn't panicked, he found the slide to be alot of fun.

"Yipee!" he cheered as he slid along the line.

Finally he stopped as he pulled up to the station, "you silly little engine, that was dangerous!" cried his Driver, "you know the rails are covered in ice and it's not safe."

Bill just pouted, "it's not completely dangerous, it's fun! You're just being a fuddy duddy."

"I most certainly am not, I'm concerned for our safety! Now enough of this silliness and don't you try to do that again."

But Bill wasn't listening, he wanted to have more fun and had decided to try sliding again later that day.

He behaved quite well during the shunting and again when he was arranging trucks into a long train. When his shunting was complete, he took the trucks away for Mavis, who'd be waiting for them. As he puffed along with the trucks, he started to pick up speed, much to his crew's dismay, "slow down Bill!" they shouted and tried to apply his brakes, but Bill payed no attention to them.

"You're just being a bunch of fuddy duddies!" he chuckled as he slid along.

Further up the line, Mavis was waiting with her loaded stone trucks. She was waiting patiently when suddenly she heard screeching brakes and shouting, "that sounds like Bill," she thought to herself, "something must be wrong."

It was Bill, he came screeching into the station with brakes still screeching and finally coming to a stop.

"Is everything alright Bill?" Mavis asked, "did the trucks push you too fast?"

"Everything's perfect," he smiled and he told Mavis about his slide, "you should try it, it's alot of fun...as long as you don't have a fuddy duddy crew."

"I would never do that," Mavis said firmly, "I know it's too dangerous, I'd be frightened if I went on a slide."

"I think you've been spending too much time with Toby, he's made you into a cautious silly engine," Bill chuckled.

Mavis pulled an angry face as Bill shunted her trucks into place, then went to get the loaded trucks. On the way back to the harbour, the crew spoke firmly with him, "you've been lucky so far that we haven't gotten into a serious accident," his Driver said to him, "but your luck won't last forever, so please _stop_ sliding!"

But Bill wasn't going to give up his sliding habit, he wanted to do it again and he thought it would be good to try it out at the harbour. He was soon to regret his decision.

He went even faster along the line, his crew tried to slow him down again, but he refused to obey them till it was too late. Finally his brakes came on and he skidded along the rails, but he was going too fast to stop properly, "oh dear," he groaned, "I didn't plan on this."

Adams was nearby and saw, to his horror, Bill sliding past and heading towards the buffers at the end of the line, "Stop Bill! Stop!" he cried.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" he shouted.

The guard in his brake van also applied his brakes, but despite their best efforts, Bill couldn't stop and went crashing threw the buffers. The Driver and fireman jumped out of the cab and watched in horror as their engine went off the edge of the docks and into the water.

"Yeow!" Bill cried, "the water is freezing cold!"

Several of the trucks went off the edge with him while others remained on the rails or on the dockside. Adams' Driver called for help and soon Thomas arrived with the breakdown train. He and Adams moved the trucks out of the way, then with the two cranes, they lifted Bill out of the water. He was cold, wet and felt very uncomfortable.

"Well Bill, was that fun?" his Driver asked him firmly.

"No...it wasn't, it was...c...cold," he shivered threw his teeth.

"This is what we were telling you earlier, sliding can fun at times, but it can be more dangerous than you think. I can only hope you learn a lesson from all this."

Bill did indeed learn his lesson and told this to the Fat Controller when he came to speak with Bill, "I won't go sliding again sir, I promise."

"I sure hope you don't," said the Fat Controller firmly, "I'll let you off with a warning Bill, but if you do something like this again, I'll send you back to the china clay pits and you can stay in the shed throughout the rest of the winter season."

Bill was true to his word, he worked hard and promised never to slide again, cause he certainly doesn't want another cold bath.

_**Trevor's Christmas Surprise**_

Every year, the Vicar of Wellsworth holds an annual Christmas party with a special surprise for all the people who come. The surprise is always different every year, so no one can guess just what it will be.

"I wonder what the Vicar's got planned for the party this year," Trevor was saying to his Driver one winter's morning.

"Well whatever it is, it's going to quite an interesting surprise, just like it is every year," smiled his Driver as he built up Trevor's fire, "but there's one thing I can never figure out."

"And what would that be?"

"I don't know where he keeps coming up with these ideas."

Trevor chuckled quietly and steamed out to do his work. His job that day was to cut up wood from some fallen trees that had blown over during the snowstorm. Trevor enjoyed the work, especially since he was working close to the railway and he could speak with the engines that stopped near the vicarage orchard.

BoCo soon came into view and stopped near to where Trevor was working, "hello BoCo, how are you doing?" Trevor asked kindly.

"Terrible," groaned BoCo, "that lorry they brought in to help with the china clay loads is making a misery out of our work and he says we're old fashioned and need to be replaced."

Whilst Bill was away helping at the harbour on Thomas' branch line, the china clay manager had hired a lorry to help with china clay loads when there was too much for Ben to take alone. Although it was a hard worker, it was quite rude and so was it's Driver. They would insult the older engines and workers, and would disobey some of the rules if they thought they were no fun.

"That lorry and that Driver of his have gotten themselves into a few mishaps already since they started work at the pits," BoCo said to Trevor, "but they don't seem to learn from their mistakes, they just get worse."

"Sounds like a pair of horrid characters to me," said Trevor.

"They are indeed and if I were you Trevor, I'd be careful on the roads cause you don't know when that lorry and his Driver will pop out of nowhere and try to run you off the road."

While BoCo was telling this to Trevor, Bertie the Bus was travelling down the road with many happy passengers riding on board. The joyful ride though wasn't going to last for too long as they heard loud honking coming from behind them.

"Who's that honking at us?" Bertie asked.

His Driver looked and saw that a fully loaded lorry full of china clay was overtaking them and honking it's horn at them. The Driver seemed to be angry at them. He shook his fist at them and shouted, "get off the roads you old timers!"

While he was doing this, he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and nearly drove into Bertie's side. Bertie's Driver turned the wheel to avoid any scrapes, but ended up sending Bertie off the road.

The driver checked to see if any of the passengers were hurt, some were shaken from the ordeal, but there were no serious injuries.

The lorry didn't stop, he just continued on his way, "Road hog!" Bertie called angerily.

Over the next few days, the lorry and his Driver had other close calls with other cars, buses and lorries and soon the lorry was nicknamed 'Hog' considering that he acted just like one.

Then on the day of the Christmas party, the Vicar of Wellsworth asked Hog and his Driver to pick his special surprise from the docks of Brendam.

They were told to take great care with the surprise, but they were in a hurry and wanted to get the job done quickly. They barked orders at the 'Old timers' as they called everyone else and tried to hurry them up.

"You go any slower and I'll be missing this Christmas and the next one," grumbled the Driver.

"Just be patient!" snapped one of the dock workers, "we'll have you loaded up in no time."

It took a little more time than they had thought, but soon the Vicar's surprise was tied down on the back of the lorry. But instead of saying 'thank you' for their efforts, Hog and his Driver shouted in unison, "it's about time!" and drove away quickly.

They drove on quickly down the roads, passing other vehicles as though they were standing still. They were having a grand time, but the fun was soon to come to an end when they came up behind a slow moving lorry with fragile cargo. Hog's Driver sounded the horn loudly, "move out of the way old timer!" he shouted, but the lorry ahead of them would not speed up. "Fine, we'll just go around you!"

He turned the stirring wheel and tried to race past the slow moving lorry, then there came trouble...

The slow moving lorry was turning to the left. Hog's Driver turned away from the other lorry and ended up driving Hog into a snowbank on the side of the road.

"Oof!" they cried in unison and stopped with a sudden jerk.

The other lorry stopped as quickly as it could, then the Driver climbed down and ran to see if Hog's Driver was okay, "why did you try to overtake me back there?" he asked the Driver.

"It's because you were going slowly, we had a delivery to make and we didn't want to be late, right Hog?" he asked his lorry.

The lorry's answer was muffled underneath the snow, so no one could hear him. The other lorry Driver shook his head and sighed unhappily, "what you did is dangerous youngster. You and your lorry are lucky that you didn't get seriously hurt or worse," he said firmly.

Hog's Driver didn't seem to care and turned his head away from the other Driver. The Other Driver sighed again and pulled out his mobile phone to call for help and phoned the vicarage to inform them of what was going on.

Emergency services soon came and lifted Hog out of the snowbank. Trevor also came with his trailer and offered to help, "it's kind of you to offer, but we got everything under control here," said one of the workers, "but if you want to help out, you can take their load to it's destination."

"Good thing we brought the trailer then," smiled Trevor's Driver.

With the help of the workers, the surprise load was placed onto Trevor's trailer and once it had been tied down, Trevor puffed slowly down the road, leaving the workers to deal with Hog and his Driver.

The Vicar was waiting by the Church for Hog and his Driver to arrive, "I hope everything's okay," he thought to himself and would often look down at his watch. Finally, he heard something coming down the road - but it wasn't a lorry's motor, it was a chugging sound, "Trevor?" And indeed it was Trevor, he was chugging up to the church with the surprise load still covered up on the back of his trailer.

"What happened to Hog?" he asked.

"Long story sir," sighed Trevor.

So while the men unloaded the surprise, Trevor told the Vicar about what happened to Hog, "well thank you for bringing it Trevor, I had a feeling that they would get into trouble with the way they were driving."

The men took off the tarpaulins, revealing the object underneath them. It looked like a church organ with lots of pipes sticking upwards from the back, "this is a calliope," said the Vicar, "with the aid of steam, it can play beautiful music."

"I remember seeing one of those things in my early days," said Trevor as he looked at it, "although I have to say, this one looks to be in better shape than the other ones I used to see."

"Well that's because I had it restored most recently," said the Vicar, "it was in rough shape when I found it in a scrap yard."

He then spoke to Trevor, "for this Christmas party this year, I would like you to play the calliope for everyone to hear."

Before anyone arrived, Trevor's driver connected a hose from Trevor to the calliope, then he build up the fire and made good steam preasure. Then when the people arrived for the party, Trevor blew off steam and made the calliope play. The music was beautiful and every one gathered round to hear it. Trevor was also enjoying the music, "this has got to be one of the best surprises we've ever had at this party," he said happily and everyone agreed happily with him.

As for Hog's Driver, his licence was taken away for reckless driving and he now works at the dockyards in an unhappily way. As for Hog himself, he sits in an impound lot at the police station, freezing as the cold winter winds blow aganist him. I bet now he wishes he hadn't been so silly.

_**The End!**_


	16. No 57 LoBo the New Diesel Engine

_**LoBo the New Diesel Engine**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

_**With Special Thanks to D.J. Scales for the Ideas**_

Dear Friends,

_On British Railways, there is a new type of Diesel locomotive that rolls down the tracks and doing it's jobs with little trouble at all. Around January of 2013, the Fat Controller bought one of those new diesels to help with the main line goods work. This new engine had a bit of an attitude when he first arrived and had a secret little problem, but thankfully that problem was sorted out and he proved just how useful he was. I hope you will enjoy reading about LoBo and his first days on the North Western Railway._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Breaking Through

-Blind Trust

-Seeing the Problem

-Trees a Crowd

_**Breaking Through**_

A new arrival had arrived at Knapford yards one cold winter's day. It was a brand new Class 70 diesel engine on trail, "as you all know," the Fat Controller was saying to the other engines, "goods services on the main line have been increasing alot as of late, and so I decided to bring in one of the latest diesel engines on the mainland to help with the workloads. If all goes well, then he will become an engine of the North Western."

The main line engines were pleased with this news, especially Gordon, Henry and James, who were tired of pulling goods trains.

After the Fat Controller left, the diesel was parked in his spot of the big engine sheds. He didn't look too pleased to be there, "I know it takes time to get used to a new home," Bear said kindly to him, "but you'll get used to it soon enough."

"I rather not," the diesel said rudely, "I rather be with modern engines instead of old boxes like yourself. Ever since I've come to this outdated Island, I've seen what you call 'Diesels' and it makes me wonder why you lot were not scrapped years ago like the rest of your class mates."

The steam engines gasped upon hearing this, they had always heard rude remarks like that said to them, not to the diesels.

"Pardon me," Henry piped up, "but shouldn't you be saying that to us like others have said in the past?"

The new diesel eyed Henry angerily, "I rather not waste my breath with scrap metal," he said rudely.

Henry and the other steamers glared crossly at the new diesel, just as BoCo came into the sheds.

"Good evening my friends," he said cheerfully.

"What's good about it?" grumbled James.

BoCo could see the angry stares on the other engine's faces and couldn't understand what was upsetting them. That was until he heard, "oh you have to be kidding me, there's one of you here too? I'm surronded by the old fashioned and the useless!"

"Oh shut up you!" snapped James crossly.

"Why don't you make me?" snapped the new diesel rudely, "I have the right to speak my mind!"

Rude remarks continued to fly around the sheds and soon that turned into an argument until an inspector came to stop the noise and following that, the engines remained silent for the rest of the night.

When morning came, the new diesel's Driver arrived and took him out to the yards to collect his first train. The engines were glad to see him go.

"What a rude engine he was," grumbled James, "I hope he doesn't pass his tests."

There were no engines available to shunt the trucks, so the new engine had to shunt them himself. He bumped and banged the trucks about until they were all in a long line.

"Ohh," groaned the trucks after he was done, "you didn't need to be rough, we weren't going to play tricks on you."

But the new diesel took no notice of them and bumped them again, "first old engines and now old rolling stock, what a liberty!" he grumbled and departed once the guard had blown his whistle.

Despite being a new diesel engine pulling old trucks, he performed quite well all the way to the end of the line and again on the way back.

"Well done," the Fat Controller said proudly to him, "you performed wonderfully out on the main line today." The new diesel smiled proudly, "now I have one more job for you. Tomorrow morning, I would like you to pull the Flying Kipper all the way to the end of the line."

"Sure sir," said the diesel, he felt very proud of himself and for the rest of the day, he boasted to the other engines. They groaned as they listened to his never ending conversations until he had gone to sleep.

At four thirty the next morning, the new diesel rattled into the yards where he found all the vans waiting in a long line for him. Unlike most of the trucks on Sodor, these trucks had something called 'Air Brakes', when an engine's brakes come on, the brakes on the trucks will come on, making it easier to slow the train down.

The new diesel was pleased with this, he considered these trucks to be modern just like him.

The Driver went along the train, checking to make sure that every coupling and air brake hoses were connected. He was about to connect the air hose behind his engine when he heard someone shout, "get that train out of here!" it was coming from an impatient yard worker, "We got more cargo coming in today and we cannot be delayed."

"We'll go when we're ready!" called the driver, "it's not even five yet."

The impatient dock worker didn't care, he continued to argue with the Driver until at last he gave up and went into the cab. But due to the arguing, he had completely forgotten about the air brake hose in between his engine and the first truck.

He opened the throttle and slowly but surely, the train began to roll out of the docks, earlier than they were suppose to leave.

"Ah well," said the Driver, "I guess it'd be okay to be a little early today. Maybe the Other Railway will be grateful for us being early."

"Perhaps," smirked the diesel.

They made good timing down the line as they rolled through the countryside with the smell of fish behind him. Although they were making good timing, the new diesel felt as though something was wrong.

His eye sight wasn't perfect and at times, everything around him looked a little blury.

"Come on eye sight, come back," he growled crossly.

Soon they reached Gordon's hill. The new diesel roared up the hill with great effort and soon reached the top. As they made their way down the hill, the Driver went to apply the brakes, but discovered that they weren't slowing down, they were going faster.

"Hmm, something must be wrong with your brakes...which is very bad," he cried and tried his best to slow the train down.

As more trucks rolled to the top of the hill, their speed increased even more. They were now completely out of control, the diesel's Driver was in a panic, but the diesel was more concerned about his eye sight.

Then the Driver saw something that made him gasp in horror, "there's a train ahead!" he cried and braced himself for the impact.

"Train? What train?" cried the diesel, "I can't..."

He was cut off as he crashed into the tail end of another train. Splintered wood flew everywhere from the smashed up brake van and some of the trucks on the other train while the diesel bounced off the tracks and rolled along the sleepers before finally coming to a stop.

Wendell the Works Diesel was at the front of the train, he got a shock when he felt his trucks lurch into him and was pushed a short distance before stopping just beyond the signal.

"What happened?" Wendell cried.

His Driver looked back and saw the damage, "we just got rear ended, that's what."

Wendell was uncoupled and went to get the breakdown train. The guard who had been in the brake van had jumped out long before the crash and was now shouting at the new diesel and his Driver, "don't you know it's dangerous to go flying down the hill at those speeds?!" he shouted angerily, "you could've caused more damage than you already have!"

"It wasn't our fault," said the Driver, "the stupid brakes wouldn't come on!"

The guard checked the brakes, then he came back even crosser than before, "there's a good reason why, you didn't secure the brakes properly! The air brakes won't work if they're not connected, I thought you and that engine of yours would've known that."

"Oh that's a lowblow right there!" snapped the Driver, "it was just a small mistake, it won't happen again."

"It better not, other 'Lowblow' here will get sent back...oh and I don't think the Fat Controller will enjoy hearing about this 'small mistake' as you call it."

The diesel 'Lowblow', gulped in fear just as Wendell returned with the breakdown train. He was worried of what the Fat Controller would have to say.

_**Blind Trust**_

When the Fat Controller heard the news about the accident, he went to speak with Lowblow and his Driver. The Driver explained how they were rushed, so he couldn't have known that the air brakes were not fully coupled up. Afterwords, the Fat Controller let them off with a warning and no more was said about the accident.

A few days later, Henry was puffing up Gordon's hill with a fully loaded goods train. The trucks were being troublesome as per usual, so Henry had to puff as hard as he could to make it to the top.

"Hold back! Hold back!" giggled the stupid trucks.

Despite their efforts, Henry was able to get up the hill. He thought he was in the clear now, but he was to be proven wrong. The night before, it had rained again and now most of the rails were covered in slippery ice. As Henry reached the top, his Driver went to apply the brakes, but Henry and his crew found, to their horror, that they weren't slowing down - if anything, they were speeding up.

"Come on brakes, work!" cried the Driver and pulled back on the brake handles as hard as he could, but Henry would not slow down.

"Help! Help!" he shierked as he reached the bottom of the hill.

Just ahead of them was Wellsworth Station. The signalman in the signalbox heard Henry's cries for help and reacting quickly, he changed all points to a siding behind the station and set all signals to danger. Now it was only a matter of luck and hope.

Henry skidded along the rails with the trucks screaming in fright behind him. Finally, his wheels gained a good grip on the rails and he managed to slow down, which was a good thing as he was switched off the main line and into the siding. With a great groan of relief, Henry stopped with every truck on his train in the siding.

The signalman ran down to see if he was okay, "we're fine thank you," said Henry's Driver, "Good thing you had the points changed to this line."

"Well I wouldn't have known had Henry not cried for help," said the signalman. "Now I'm afraid you're going have to stay here for a bit as Edward is due to pass with the stopping passenger train in the next few minutes."

Henry was glad to hear this, he was still feeling rather shaky over what had happened.

By the time the big green tender engine arrived at the big station yards, he was half an hour late. Henry's crew explained everything to the Fat Controller and the yard manager, who understood the situation perfectly.

"It was bound to happen what with the heavy rainfalls we had last night," said the Fat Controller. "I think it might be best if I put in a speed limit on hills and near stations, just to be on the safe side."

"Sounds perfect to me," Henry groaned. While he was pleased with this news, he could only imagine the jokes he would hear that night.

As he got back to the sheds, he was surprised not to hear any jokes about his slide. The engines knew this was a serious matter, "You're lucky to have stayed on the line Henry," said Bear, "usually out of control trains come off the tracks as we have heard from past incidents on the mainland and sometimes here on Sodor."

"An engine like myself would never have gotten into trouble like that," boasted Lowblow, "I can roll down the hill and come to a smooth stop at the platform."

"No engine can stop an entire train that's out of control," said BoCo, "not even the most modern engines like yourself."

Edward was quick to agree, "ice is ice and it can be slippery to anyone, even you."

"Pah!" sniffed Lowblow.

The engines said no more, they knew nothing they said would work to make Lowblow see sense.

Over the next few days, the Fat Controller and several workmen went along the line placing speed limits that would be temporary until the winter weather went away. The engines all took great care whenever they came to these areas, they obeyed the speed limits with no grumbling or complaining.

Well, except Lowblow, "a modern up to date diesel like myself doesn't need stupid speed limits, I won't slide like the out of date engines here."

"You're lucky I'm nowhere near you," grumbled Gordon, "otherwise I'd give you a good bumping."

Lowblow gave off a nasty look on his face. Gordon snorted and went off to collect his passenger carriages.

When Gordon had gone, Lowblow spoke with his Driver, "there's something wrong with one of my eyes," he said to him, "everything I look at with it looks blury."

"Oh I'm sure it's fine," his Driver said reassuringly, "it's probably just the smoke and steam that's getting to you."

"Probably," Lowblow muttered, but he wasn't so sure. He had various problems in the past with seeing perfectly and during many of those times, he was around his own kind, "I hope I'm not going blind," he thought to himself.

That afternoon, Lowblow was to take the express as Pip and Emma were in London and would not return till later that evening.

Lowblow would've been happy, but as it turned out, all the other engines were busy with their own jobs, so he had to fetch his own coaches and take them to the platform. He was cross and bumped them hard.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried the coaches, "There's no need for bumping!"

Lowblow took no notice and came to an abrupt stop outside of the station. The Driver wasn't sure why they were having trouble breaking, until a thought came to him. He went to the back of Lowblow and discovered that the air brakes were once again not attached.

"Whoops," he said meekily, "well that can easily be fixed."

He climbed down and coupled up the air brakes. When he was done there, he went back to the cab and waited for the guard to blow his whistle. It seemed like forever, but finally the last passenger boarded the train and the guard blew his whistle.

"Finally," sniffed Lowblow and departed out of the big station.

They ran along the main line splendidly and gave the passengers a very comfortable ride. All too soon though, they came across a speed limit sign. Lowblow strained his eyes to see what number was on the sign, "the speed limit is 40 downhill," he called to his Driver.

"40 huh? Sounds about right to me."

But what the Driver didn't know was that Lowblow had read the sign wrong, the sign didn't read 40, it had actually read 20. But thanks to Lowblow's one bad eye, the two actually looked like a four.

They soon charged through Wellsworth Station and charged up Gordon's hill with furious effort, "that's one in the headlamps for those old timers," he chuckled to himself.

Soon they reached the top of the hill and began to apply the brakes, but like Henry, they found that slowing down was impossible and as a result, they rattled down the holl at dangerous speeds. Not even the brakes on the coaches could slow the train down probably.

"Not again!" cried Lowblow as sparks flew from his brakes.

They continued to race along dangerously until at last, they gained good tractive effort and managed to stop the train at the works station where Duke and his passengers had seen everything.

The passengers swarmed out of the carriages like angry bees and shouted at Lowblow and his Driver. "This couldn't get any worse," groaned Lowblow, but he was wrong.

The Fat Controller had been on the train that day and he was furious with Lowblow and his Driver, "what were you playing at? I put the speed limit at 20, not 40!"

"It was 20?" gasped the Driver, "but my engine said..."

"Never mind what your engine said," said the Fat Controller angerily, "I will deal with him later. In the meantime, I want him taken off the train and put out of the way, I'll ask Douglas to take the express."

The Driver did as he was told, he uncoupled Lowblow and put him in a siding out of the way, feeling rather upset about the two incidents he's had.

_**Seeing the Problem**_

Lowblow stayed right where he was for the rest of the day and watched the other engines race past him with trains rattling behind them. He was left alone with no one to talk to, he felt awful, "bother my eye, if it hadn't been blury, I would've seen that sign properly," he thought to himself.

Sometime after the sun went down for the day, Edward arrived at Crovan's Gate with a goods train and saw that Lowblow was miserable.

"Hello Lowblow, how are you doing?" he asked kindly. The Diesel took no notice of him and snorted rudely. Edward ignored that and spoke to him again, "I heard you haven't been doing well during your runs."

"Oh and I suppose you're going to boast about how the old fashioned can so much better than the modern machines like me?"

"Not really, I would never say something like that, it's not who I am. I just want to talk to you and find out how you feel right now."

"While you might want to talk, but I don't! Now why don't you and that friend of ours beside you leave!"

Edward looked confused and look to his other side and noticed that there was no-one there. He quickly figured out what was going on, "do you have a problem with your eye sight?"

"I'm not telling you and your friend anything," snapped the diesel.

"What friend? There's no one here beside me."

Lowblow gasped when Edward said that, he tried to cover the fact he had actually been seeing doubles threw his own eyes, but he couldn't fool Edward, "okay so I have a problem with seeing," he admitted at last, "I've always had a problem with one of my eyes since I was first built. Now go ahead and make fun of me, I know you want to!"

"I won't make fun of you," Edward said kindly, "in fact I want to help you and maybe give you another chance."

"Really?" Lowblow asked just as Donald passed by with another goods train.

"Yes," Edward answered, "I will speak with the Fat Controller and I'll ask him to help you with your problem. Don't worry Lowblow, I'll will help you," and on that note, Edward puffed away with a clear line ahead of him.

"Yeah right," Lowblow sniffed, "no one's ever done anything to help me before, so why should I believe that old timer?"

Had he known Edward, he would've known that the old engine is always true to his word.

When Edward arrived at the Big Engine sheds later that evening, he asked his Driver to get the Fat Controller.

The driver did as Edward requested and returned soon with the Fat Controller, "sir, I would like to talk to you about our new engine Lowblow, I think he has a problem with one of his eyes."

"What makes you say that Edward?" he asked.

"It's not his eyes, it's just karma getting back at him for being rude and stupid," said Gordon rudely.

Edward hushed him and then answered the Fat Controller's question, "well sir, remember earlier when he ran past the speed limit sign? Well what if he couldn't see the sign properly at all and that's why he told his driver the wrong number."

"It is possible," pondered the Fat Controller.

"I learned this when he said spoke about someone beside and yet there wasn't anyone there," Edward continued, "then he told me he's always had problems with seeing ever since he was first built."

"Well I guess that would explain everything then," said the Fat Controller. "I'll call in for a specialist to come here tomorrow and speak with Lowblow as you called him."

With that said, the Fat Controller turned and walked away just as Lowblow finally came into the sheds. Gordon and James were not convinced, "there's nothing wrong with your eyes, it's your own fault that you had your incidents," said James.

"For as long as we've been on the rails, we've never heard of an engine having eye problems," agreed Gordon.

"Well consider me the first then!" snapped Lowblow, sounding offended, "I have a problem seeing for crying out loud!"

James and Gordon still didn't believe Lowblow. The new diesel decided not to fight with them anymore, so he went to his part of the shed and went unhappily to sleep.

The next morning, the engines went off to work, all except for Bear and Lowblow. Bear would be taking 'The Limited' later on, so he had to stay in the sheds and wait till then. Lowblow though stayed in his berth feeling down in the dumps.

Just then, the Fat Controller came into the sheds, "I'm in trouble now," Lowblow groaned quietly to himself.

Then he saw another man walking into the sheds behind the Fat Controller, "Which engine is it you want me to look at?" he asked.

"That one right there," the Fat Controller answered as he pointed to Lowblow. The new diesel looked nervous, but soon found he had nothing to be worried about, "this is an Eye Doctor, he's going to take a look at your eyes and see if he can find out what's wrong."

"Alright Lowblow, I want you to tell me, how long have been having trouble seeing," said the doctor.

"Well..." and Lowblow told him everything that he had told Edward and more.

After a while, the doctor took a good look at the eye, then gave Lowblow some tests, "I want you to read all the numbers here Lowblow," he said. Lowblow was able to tell off the numbers from the first few rows, but the rest were too blury. Using an item that Lowblow could only describe as a metal stick with a pointy thing on the top of it, the doctor took a good look at the eyes.

When the tests were done, the doctor spoke to Lowblow and the Fat Controller, "it's just as you thought, he doesn't have 20/20 vision," he said, "his left eye is a 120, which means he can't see anything on the left side unless it's right in front of his face. This would explain why he saw the wrong number on your speed limit sign."

"So what are we suppose to do?" the Fat Controller asked, "we can't have him run around blind all the time."

"Well my best advice is to give him a special lense that will give him good eye sight, like a Monicle for example," said the eye doctor, "once he has that monicle over his left eye, he should have no trouble seeing at all."

"It will be expansive," said the Fat Controller, "But then again, if it helps him see properly and work better, then I'll place an order for it."

It took a few days to make the monicle and the lense for it, then soon it was ready and brought to the sheds for Lowblow. Workmen placed it over his left eye and right away, Lowblow could see better than ever before.

"And now that you can see properly, let's see just how well you can work out on the main line," said the Fat Controller, "I would like you to take a goods train to Vicarstown and bring another back."

"Yes sir," said Lowblow and rumbled away. He shunted his trucks together and then set off as soon as the guard was ready.

Thanks to his new Monicle, Lowblow could easily see the speed limit signs and this time, he slowed down to the proper speed and for the first time since he had arrived on the North Western Railway, he didn't have a mistake. He did well all the way to Vicarstown and all the way back to the big station yards. He was proud of his new monicle, but some engines thought it looked silly and...but I mustn't say anymore, or I'll spoil the next story.

_**Trees a Crowd**_

James and Gordon thought that Lowblow's Monicle was a complete waste of money and were not afraid to say so, "I can't beleive the Fat Controller would believe such a lie," said James, "there's nothing wrong with that diesel, except in his attitude."

"The only reason he's had his accidents was because he was so brash and boastful," added Gordon, "it's just like every other diesel that's come to this railway."

Lowblow looked over to the two engines crossly, "I didn't make up the story of my bad eye sight," he protested, "I really can't see without some kind of lense covering my left eye."

"So you say," sniffed James, "but I don't believe you."

"Neither do I," added Gordon, "The Fat Controller could've used that money on us for future overhauls, not waste it on a silly piece of glass like your Monicle."

"It's not useless though, you'll find out someday."

"Sure we will," Gordon and James said while rolling their eyes, they didn't believe that the Monicle would help Lowblow's performance, but they were due to find out real soon.

The following next day, Lowblow was asked to pull the passenger train from the Big Station to the big station at Barrow.

Lowblow was glad to be at the front of the passenger train and was ready to prove how useful he could be, but he remembered that he had to be extra careful. He did want to have the same results as his last two incidents.

"I'll show those two engines that this Monicle is useful," he thought to himself.

The guard's whistle blew and Lowblow departed with a toot of his horn.

Gordon was coming in with the express and called rudely to Lowblow, "keep an eye out if you can," he shouted. Lowblow showed an angry stare and continued on with his train.

His spirits lifted up quite a bit as he rumbled along, the coaches were rolling along smoothly, they were running to perfect speed, thanks to the Monicle's help and they were actually running ahead of the schedule. Despite that, Lowblow was still focusing on how he could prove that his new Monicle was useful.

Little did he know that his chance to prove Gordon and James wrong would come real soon.

There was a very old tree that grew in Vicarstown, it was well over 150 years old. The town's people though wanted it cut down as they wanted a new building to go there. One man, Mister Green, wanted to save the tree and so he bought it from the town and now it was being moved to his home in the town of Wellsworth.

There was a problem with the transfer though, the tree was too big to lay down on it's side, so the Lorry Driver had to keep it standing straight upwards and then there were the power lines, they were directly in the path of the lorry and the tree. To prevent any accidents, the new owner called the electric company, who shut down the power and lifted the lines up and out of the way of the tree's path.

It took a while, but finally they were out of the town of Vicarstown and heading off to Wellsworth.

"A tree on the back of my lorry," sighed the Driver, "this has got to be one of the craziest things I've ever hauled."

Everything went well after that, but it was all to change soon. The lorry soon reached a level crossing just outside of Wellsworth, the Driver sighed with relief in thinking that his job would soon be over and done with.

However, he wasn't focusing on what he was doing and as a result of it, he had completely forgotten about the power lines. One moment, his lorry was running along smoothly, then in the next second, one of the branches caught the power lines. The power lines pulled the tree back to the edge of the flatbed, but it didn't fall off - just yet. The branch broke and fell, then the lorry hit a bump on the crossing and with that, the tree fell off the lorry's flatbed and landed on the road with a loud bang.

"What in blazes?" gasped the Driver and quickly slammed on the brakes. He looked back and saw that the tree was now on the crossing. "Oh my, I'm going to be in trouble for this." Then he heard a diesel horn in the distance and worst still, the man had stopped the lorry...right on the railway tracks, "Stop! Stop!" he shouted and waved his arms.

Luckily, Lowblow could see him and the lorry, "stop Driver! There's a lorry on our tracks!"

The Driver applied the brakes and immediately all the brakes on the coaches came on. The train skidded along the rails, but managed to stop with inches away from the lorry and a few low hanging branches of the tree.

"Whew, well that was lucky, good eye Lowblow," said his Driver.

The lorry Driver was relieved too, but he wasn't going to be for long as they heard a whistle in the distance. It was James, he was coming down the line with the stopping passenger train.

"If he doesn't stop soon, he'll crash into the tree," groaned the lorry Driver.

"Not to worry sir, he's got plenty of time to stop if I warn him," said Lowblow. His Driver sounded off the horn loud and long, the noise echoed everywhere and soon caught the attention of James and his crew.

"That silly diesel's probably gotten into trouble again," said James rudely.

"No he hasn't, but we will!" cried James' Driver. He applied the brakes and they came on with a groan. James skidded along the rails with his brakes screeching loudly. The lorry Driver shut his eyes and awaited the horrible crash, but it never came. Thanks to Lowblow's warning, James did indeed have plenty of time to stop with inches away from the tree.

"Where did this thing come from?" James asked right away.

"Uh sorry about that, it was my fault," said the lorry Driver, "I guess I wasn't paying attention and the tree got caught on the lines before falling off behind my flatbed."

"Oh well, no harm done," said James' Driver, "Thanks to Lowblow's warning."

"Well done Lowblow!" cheered the passengers in both James' train as well as his own.

Lowblow smiled at this and smirked at James, "now what was that you were saying about my Monicle being a waste of money?" James said nothing.

A roadway crew was called upon and soon had the tree off the tracks and taken to it's proper location. The lorry Driver was let off with a warning and both trains were able to continue their journeys.

When James returned to the sheds that night, he and Gordon remained quiet. After all, the story had spread that day and they had been proven wrong...again.

The Fat Controller was also pleased and went to the sheds to speak with Lowblow, "in spite of your two incidents," he said, "you have redeem yourself and proven that you are a really useful engine, especially after today's little fisaco with the tree on the tracks. I am very pleased with you."

"Thank you sir," smiled Lowblow, "but if you want to credit anyone, you should credit the old blue engine who spoke with you. If he hadn't done that, I would still be running blind."

"Well I did just what any friend would do," smiled Edward, "and the name's Edward by the way."

"Well thank you Edward," smiled Lowblow.

"Sir," Bear piped up, "since Lowblow's been doing so well since he got his new Monicle, does this mean he can stay on the railway?"

The Fat Controller was silent, then he answered with a smile, "well I don't see why not, he's already proven how reliable he is and now that he's showing you all a little more respect, he's earned his place on the North Western Railway."

"Thank you sir," smiled Lowblow, then he spoke to the other engines, "and I apologize for the way I acted when I first came here. I just wasn't used to being around engines like all of you, but now I am and I'm proud to be here."

"Well we're glad to have you here," said BoCo, "and we except your apology." All the engines agreed, but went silent while BoCo continued, "and if it's alright with you, we would like to give you a new name."

"It's alright with me, which name do you have in mind?"

"How about LoBo, you certainly look like one." Edward and the others were all quick to agree, even James and Gordon.

"I like it, LoBo the Diesel Engine," he smiled and thanked his new friends for the new name.

LoBo is now a happy diesel engine, he enjoys his work. You can often find him at the front of a goods train or passenger train, but you're most likely to see him on the Limited or the Flying Kipper when the other engines are busy. Gordon and James have stopped saying that the Monicle is useless and now all three engines are great friends.

LoBo still has a bit of an attitude, but now he mostly uses it on the trucks or the Other Railway diesels who insult the other engines. That shows you, doesn't it?

**Author's Note:**

This story was deeply inspired by a real life event when multi-millionaire John D. MacArthur bought up a very old tree that was suppose to be cut down. On April 26th 1961, the tree was uprooted and was being moved to it's new home. Like in the story, the tree's branches got caught on the power lines and slid off the trailer and onto the tracks. The East Coast Champion was coming along the line and luckily the engineer saw the tree and slowed the train to a stop right next to the tree with only a few branches touching the cab roof of the diesel. This entire event took place along the Florida East Coast's Double track main line.

_**The End!**_


	17. No 58 Western Engines

_**Western Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_Do you remember in 'Adams the South Western Engine' that Oliver showed a huge disliking to Adams and the Railway he used to work for? Well I'm happy to say that Oliver no longer has that distrusting feeling and he and Adams are good friends. How you might be asking? Well, if I told you, you wouldn't need to read the book, right? Anyways, I hope you will enjoy reading this book about the Western engines...oh and you might notice that Thomas has got a story in this book. Well, it was Sir Topham Hatt's request to teach Thomas a lesson. I sure hope it does._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Thomas Takes the Plunge

-False Impressions

-Oliver's Bad Experience

-Westerners Forever

_**Thomas Takes the Plunge**_

Bill was enjoying his visit on Thomas' branch line and following his dip in the water, he quickly learned to be more cautious, especially around the harbour area. Although he was enjoying his visit, he did find the workloads to be tiring and would come back to the branch line sheds all worn out, "now I can see why you asked for me to come," he said to the other engines, "there are more trucks that need to go to that harbour than I ever thought. It wears an engine out."

Percy and Adams were quick to agree, but not Thomas, "pah! Moving trucks is an easy job," he boasted, "I could easily handle the trucks without straining or slipping my wheels."

"How would you know Thomas?" Daisy asked, "you haven't moved trucks in a long time!"

"I know more than you do," he answered, "I've dealt with trucks long before all of you arrived and I must say that I did it without breaking down, if you know what I mean Daisy."

Daisy snorted, she did not like being reminded of the day she broke down when she took on too much work.

"When it comes to trucks, I'm know just as much about them as Edward does, maybe even more than him."

"Oh really? Then why don't you prove it to us tomorrow?" Percy suggested, "you can take over my jobs while I do your passenger runs, what do you say to that?"

"I think that's a great idea," said Thomas, "we'll check with our crews and the Stationmaster tomorrow, then I'll show you how a real engine deals with trucks."

So next morning, the two engines spoke with their crews and the stationmaster and when all was arranged, they set off to their work, "now I'll show you Percy," Thomas boasted.

"You're only going to show how silly you are!" Percy called back.

Adams was quick to agree with what Percy said, "Thomas is going to land in trouble and that's no mistake," he said to Bill and Daisy, "I can just feel it in my frames."

At first though, Thomas didn't have any problems. He was bigger and stronger than Percy, so he was able to handle the bulk of the goods work. He took many of the stone trucks down to the harbour, took the milk tankers to the dairy sidings and even brought a goods train for James to take away at the junction.

"Not bad for an engine who doesn't work with trucks very often huh Percy?" Thomas called from a siding at the junction.

Percy just shot him an angry stare and puffed away with Annie, Clarabel and Victoria rattling behind him. Just then, LoBo the Diesel engine rattled up to the junction with a goods train, "these trucks are to go to the harbour on your branch line," he said, "make sure you get to them on time."

"Don't worry yourself Lowblow, it's an easy job for a Really Useful engine like me," he boasted.

"Uh it's LoBo, not Lowblow," corrected the diesel, "I don't go by that name anymore. Anyways, it isn't as easy as it looks, all these trucks are filled to the top and if you're not careful, you could end up in trouble."

LoBo was, of course, wasting his own breath as Thomas wasn't paying any attention.

The diesel quickly shunted the trucks into a siding, then he rumbled away to collect another train. Thomas quickly got switched over to the main line and was coupled up to the trucks, but he did it with a rude jerk.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" the trucks cried, "you didn't need to do that!"

But Thomas didn't hear them and departed once the guard was all ready. He started with a jerk, but he struggled to get it moving, "Must be more in those trucks than I had thought," he puffed to himself, "ah well, it can't be that hard. Trucks are easy things to move and won't dare cause me any trouble."

What Thomas said was not true at all. Trucks are not easy to move and they can cause trouble even to the most experienced engines if they are angry. Thomas had bumped them so hard that now they were cross and wanted to pay him out, "I say we hold back," said one of the trucks.

"No, let's push him," said another.

"Why not both?" suggested one of the middle trucks, "We'll hold him back to tire him out, then we'll give him a push. That oughta pay him out for bumping us."

The other trucks agreed and began to hold back, "hold back! hold back! Hold Back!" they giggled in their silly way.

Thomas strained hard to keep the train moving, but found it difficult, "come along! Come along!" he grunted furiously.

The trucks continued their silly game, making Thomas' speed decrease and getting him tired. "Oh come on you stupid trucks!" he shouted crossly, "You can't be that heavy, now come on!" And he gave them one huge jerk.

This was a big mistake, the trucks were now really cross and were ready to pay him out, "heavy are we? We'll teach you. Go On! On! On! On!" they shouted and surged into Thomas.

The force of the blow knocked his Driver out of the cab while his fireman was flung into the wall and was knocked out cold.

"Stop! Stop!" cried Thomas.

But Thomas couldn't stop, not while his Driver was out of the cab and his fireman was out cold. Thomas was completely out of control, but luck was on his side as his Driver used his Mobile phone to inform the stations that Thomas was on the loose. They quickly changed all points and set the signals to danger. As a result, Thomas flew past Adams and Daisy and rushed down the line to the harbour station.

"Oh no, I hope they're not planning on sending me into the water," Thomas thought nervously to himself.

But that _was_ what the trucks had planned. They continued to push Thomas, giving him more than a few jerks and making him go faster and faster, "Help! Help!" Thomas cried.

His cries for help could be heard by Bill and the station staff at the Harbour station, "we'll send him into the runaway siding," said the stationmaster. But by the time they reached the points, Thomas was too close and they couldn't do anything. They could only watch in horror as Thomas charged towards the end of the pier.

"Have a nice dip!" called the trucks and bumped Thomas again.

The bump knocked the fireman straight into another wall, waking him up, "what the blazes is going on?" he asked and suddenly saw the speed they were going at and where they were, "cor blimey, I got to get out of here."

Acting quickly, the fireman jumped out of the cab and landed on the pier.

"Lucky him," said Bill, "But what about Thomas?"

There was nothing anyone could do. Thomas smashed threw the buffers, rolled along the pier and slid into the sea, "OHH!" Thomas cried, "it's cold! Get me out of here!"

"I know how he feels," Bill muttered as he watched some of the trucks splash into the water.

"Less than two months after Bill's incident, this happens," groaned the Stationmaster, "I was really hoping this would stop."

"Well look on the bright side of things," said Thomas' fireman, "at least it wasn't Bill or Percy going for a second dip."

The stationmaster phoned down the line and when Percy heard the news, he went into giggle fits as he pulled the breakdown train, "so he thought it was easy huh? Ha! Ha! What a joke," even his crew had to laugh when they saw Thomas.

"It's not funny," Thomas shivered.

"It's funnier than my incident," chuckled Bill, "and besides, you deserved it Thomas."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," said a well known voice.

Thomas gulped for standing on the pier was the Fat Controller, "I'm in trouble again aren't I?"

"Yes you are Thomas, I thought you knew how to handle trucks, but obviously you've forgotten how to handle them," he said firmly. Percy was going to respond back, but decided not to say anything. "If you want to handle trucks properly, I'll have you pull them for a few weeks while Toby deals with your passenger runs."

"Don't you mean Adams sir?" Percy piped up.

"No Percy, I don't," the Fat Controller answered as he turned to the green engine, "his overhaul is complete and he'll soon be returning to the branch line, so he can do the passenger runs," he then turned back to Thomas, "and you will work goods trains until you learn your lesson."

"Yes sir," Thomas groaned from underneath the water.

Using the cranes, Thomas was lifted out of the water and taken back to the sheds by Bill and Percy, "surprising isn't it Percy?" Bill called to the green engine, "how can easy work like handling trucks leave you in the water?"

"It's shocking," Percy chuckled. Thomas groaned quietly and remained respectfully silent for the rest of the run back to the sheds.

_**False Impressions**_

Toby soon returned to the branch line and was told of what had been going on lately by Adams, "should've known Thomas would get too puffed up in his smokebox," he sighed.

"Which is why you will be taking Annie and Clarabel along with your coaches Toby," said the Fat Controller. He eyed Thomas firmly, who remained respectfully silent. Then the Fat Controller turned to Adams, "you have done well since you first came here Adams, I'm very proud of you and so is your Controller."

"Thank you sir, I'm just glad to have been some help," he said, "and I hope to work for your lovely railway again someday."

"Well it's funny you should say that cause there's another branch line that requires your help," continued the Fat Controller. Adams raised an eyebrow when he heard this, "something's gone wrong with Dan the Diesel engine and now the Little Western is short one engine and since the Ffarquhar branch line is up to full strength again, you can go there and help out."

"I will inform Duck to meet you at the Big Station," he added before leaving, "then he'll take you down the Little Western."

"Yes sir, I'm always ready to help," Adams said with a determined tone in his voice.

The Fat Controller smiled before he turned on his heel and left the sheds. The Ffarquhar Branch line engines were sad to see Adams go and wished him good luck on the Little Western.

"I hope he does well there," Percy said after Adams left, "remember, Oliver was a bit snappy at him when he first arrived."

"Why was he bitter towards Adams?" Toby asked.

"We don't know," Thomas answered, "we were never able to figure that out. Maybe Adams will be able to figure it during his time on the Little Western."

Before leaving the Ffarquhar branch line, Adams coupled up to a goods train, then he set out along the main line. He felt a little sad knowing he was leaving the Ffarquhar Branch line, but he was looking forward to his first visit on the Little Western. Duck greeted him at the Big Station, then the two engines puffed along the main line towards the main terminus.

Even though it was wintertime, the route of the Little Western was very beautiful and Adams made sure to tell that to Duck along the way.

Upon arrival, Michael the Saddletank engine told Adams of what he had to do and he did the work easily. The trucks tried their tricks at first, but soon regreted their choice as Adams used his strength aganist them.

"Don't make him mad," they advised to each other, "he could break you apart like a certain engine we know of."

When Oliver arrived with his coaches, Isabel and Dulice, he gasped when he saw who had come to work in Dan's place, "what on Earth is he doing here?" he asked crossly.

"He's helping with the work," said Michael, "and I must say he's doing quite well. It's no wonder why the Ffarquhar Branch line was doing better than ever."

Oliver growled as he watched Adams work, "stupid engine," he muttered.

Michael raised an eyebrow when he heard this, "why do you say that Oliver? He seems to be a very smart and reliable engine to me."

"You're clueless Michael," Oliver said darkly.

Michael was shocked by such behaviour, but couldn't stick around to talk, he had to collect his own trucks and take them to the Big Station.

The electric railway, which runs on the branch line near to the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway, needed new ballast for their tracks as they were replacing old worn out rails.

The Small Railway engines brought their ballast up from the hills, then the Little Western engines took them to the Big Station where either BoCo or LoBo would be waiting to take them to the branch line. There was so much ballast that needed to be delivered that the Fat Controller sent Michael down to the branch line to offer a lending buffer.

Oliver watched the operations going on from the platform, then he watched as Adams puffed away from his train.

"Lazy Southerner, they're all the same," he muttered darkly under his breath, "I bet he wants another engine to collect his train while he has a rest in the sunshine," he left off steam furiously.

All too soon, Adams' trucks were filled right to the top with ballast, but Adams had not returned from the water tower.

"We can't keep the order waiting," said the Stationmaster. He then turned to Oliver, "you'll have to move the trucks out of the way Oliver, please be quick about it."

"Oh if I must," Oliver grumbled and once he was uncoupled, he went over to the chute. As he puffed up to the chute, he saw Adams at the water tower. His tanks had less water than he and his crew thought, so he had to wait there, but to Oliver, he thought he was taking a snooze at the water tower.

He bumped the trucks hard and nearly forced them into the buffers at the end of the siding.

"Be careful with those trucks Oliver!" cried Blister II, one of the maintenance diesels, "that's an important load of ballast you know."

"I know that!" Oliver grumbled, "too bad that lazy Southerner doesn't understand that."

"Why do you..." but Blister II wasn't able to finish as Oliver was already puffing out of the siding with the trucks. He moved them over the points and started pushing them into a siding when he suddenly heard Adam's South Western whistle.

"Oh now he's boasting, the cheek of it," Oliver growled crossly and pushed the trucks hard.

Too hard by all accounts as the trucks rolled into the siding and smashed threw the buffers. Many of the trucks rolled along on the ground before they tipped over and spilled their ballast everywhere.

"Uh oh," Oliver groaned, "that wasn't suppose to happen."

The Stationmaster was cross, "you clumsy engine, that was an important load of ballast and now thanks to you, it's spilled everywhere. It will take us hours to pick it all up, which will delay the order."

"Well this wouldn't have happened if the South Western engine wasn't being lazy," Oliver said in protest.

"He wasn't being lazy, he was taking on water. We just needed you to move them out of the way so he could collect them after his tanks were filled up, but now you've come along and spilled the loads," the stationmaster took a few moments to calm himself down, then he spoke to Oliver again, "go collect your passengers, we will deal with this mess."

"Good luck trying with the lazy Southerner," said Oliver as he puffed off.

"The cheek of it all," grumbled the stationmaster and went off to make the phone call to the Fat Controller.

_**Oliver's Bad Experience**_

The ballast was soon loaded up into trucks and both Adams and Michael delivered the ballast to the big station a few minutes late. The Fat Controller was not pleased when he heard about what Oliver had done and spoke sternly to him, "I don't know why you're saying nasty things about Adams, but to be honest, I don't want to know," he said firmly, "I am not pleased with you at all Oliver. You will work the chute for the rest of the day, Donald can take Dulice and Isabel."

Oliver didn't argue aganist the Fat Controller about his decision, but he was cross and after getting back to the Little Western, he bashed the trucks about all day. The trucks didn't like this, "we weren't even thinking of playing tricks on this engine and yet he's bumping us," they said.

They wanted to pay Oliver out, but he would never let them get that chance. He continued on in an angry matter all day.

"Has Oliver ever acted like this before?" Lucas asked Blister I.

"Nope, I've never seen him act like this before," he answered, "and none of the other engines have seen that either since the day he taught that S. truck a lesson."

Both engines were wondering of why Oliver was acting like this and were due to find out sometime later that day.

At the end of the day, Oliver had finished marshalling the last of the ballast trucks into a long line, ready for Adams to take away. "Good work," said the Stationmaster, "but next time, don't be so rough."

Oliver snorted, but not in front of the Stationmaster. He didn't want him to hear his rude behaviour.

At that moment, Duck pulled up next to the chute after taking Alice and Mirabel back to the sheds, "hello Oliver, I've heard that you had a little accident today, what in blazes happened?"

Oliver didn't answer, but Lucas did as he stood on the line next to Oliver.

"I haven't seen you act like that in a long time Oliver. Why did you do that?"

"I was cross," Oliver said angerily.

"But why were you cross?"

"I just was, now just drop it!" he snapped and remained silent.

Lucas didn't drop it, he wanted to know what the matter was with his Great Western friend, "you called Adams a 'lazy Southern', why did you do that?"

Oliver didn't answer, but Duck did, "it can't be about the rivalry our lines once had with the Southern railways, that was settled years ago towards the end of the steam era."

"For you maybe, but not for me."

"Why do you say that?" asked Blister I, who had just rolled up.

Oliver remained stoney faced and refused to speak, but the other engines kept on asking of why he disliked Adams so much that he finally gave in, "alright I'll tell you," he snapped, making them subside into silence.

Oliver took in a deep breath and began to tell them his story, "it all began many years back when I was running on a branch line on the Other Railway. At the time, I worked with many other engines, as well as working with Toad the brake van and Isabel the coach. It was a very peaceful branch line and we all worked very hard to keep everything going all the time - except for one occassion."

Oliver stopped and growled crossly before muttering, "it's when _he_ showed up."

"Who's he?" asked Blister I curiously.

"An engine of his class," Oliver answered crossly. He was referring to Adams, "one of our engines broke down, just like Dan did, so our controller brought in an engine from the South Western to help us. We all thought he would help keep the back log of work off our buffers, but we were proven wrong."

"He would work passenger runs, but left the goods work for the rest of us on the branch line. He refused to pull one and one day after another, he made an excuse to say that he can't goods train, 'I might break down with the train', he would say, 'are you sure you want to risk having a delayed train with me on the front?' And that was only one of his lies and everytime, our Controller believed him and had one of us do his work instead."

"Then one night, he went too far and boasted, 'you call yourselves the Great Westerners, if anything, you are little worms compared to us, the South Westerners. We south Westerners have a reputation to keep up and we can't do that with stinky and dirty goods trains, it's work that suited to _your_ type,' he said."

"One of your brothers Duck, who had been working on the branch line, had heard quite enough and had it all reported to our Controller. He was very cross and after learning that all the South Westerner had said was false, he sent the silly engine packing and we never saw him again."

"So you think Adams is a lazy engine like that last one you met?" asked Blister I.

"Oh yes," Oliver answered firmly, "all them South Westerners are all the same. Lazy and Stubborn, just like Daisy was before."

Duck didn't seem to believe Oliver, "I think you just had a bad experience with one engine Oliver," he said, "I don't believe that every engine on a single railway is lazy and stubborn. I met many of them in the closing days of steam and they seemed to be hard workers to me."

"It's all a ploy, they're only hiding their true selves," Oliver hissed crossly and puffed away without saying another word.

"Well I guess that explains everything then," Lucas said out loud to no one in particular.

Late that night, Adams arrived at the Little Western sheds and parked himself right next to Duck. Oliver was to stay at the big engine sheds, so he wouldn't be seeing him till early the next morning.

"Evening Duck, had a good day today?" Adams asked kindly.

"Oh yes, except for one moment," and Duck told Adams all about what Oliver had said to him, Lucas and Blister I.

"Your friend Lucas said it best, it does explain everything," Adams said afterwords. "I know the engine Oliver speaks of, he was the first of our class and built with a vain look on the world, but he soon learned his lesson and became a hard worker towards the end of the steam days."

"Well that's good to know, but I don't think you'll be able to convince Oliver that you're not lazy and stubborn."

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure about that Duck. We've been able to convince others in the past and I'm sure I can do it again. Just you wait and see my friend."

"Well I wish you good luck anyways," Duck said before letting out a yawn.

On that note, Duck went to sleep, leaving Adams with a lot on his mind, but what he was thinking about, I can not say. You'll have to wait for the next story to find out.

_**Westerners Forever**_

_**Based on the Season 6 episode 'Edward the Very Useful Engine'**_

Days went by and Oliver kept a firm eye on Adams. He wished more than ever that Dan would return from the works, "at least he can work, unlike a certain Lazy engine I could mention." Duck, Donald, Douglas, Michael and even the Small Railway engines all tried different ideas, but nothing seemed to work.

"He's becoming just as vain as James was with the diesels," said Duck.

"Och, dinna mention that moment Duck," groaned Douglas, "yoo knaw how long it took James ta learn that diesel engines arena bad."

"I sure hope it doesn't take that long," said Jock, who was sitting on his line at the Wharf, "cause Dan is due to come back soon and if Adams has to leave before things get sorted out, then that will lead to future problems."

The other engines all agreed that something must be done, but none of them knew what to do.

One afternoon, news came from the works that Dan would be returning to work the following next day. Oliver puffed up to the water collum where he found Adams taking on a long, long drink.

"Enjoying your rest?" he asked darkly, "well you better not get used to it, cause Dan's coming back tomorrow, so that means you'll have to make your long journey home."

"Oliver, there's something I need to talk to you about." But before Adams could utter another word, Oliver puffed off to collect his coaches, but without taking on water.

Oliver soon pulled up to the platform with his coaches, there were lots of passengers waiting to go to the big station, "now I'll show that lazy engine how a real engine works," he thought proudly to himself.

Meanwhile, in the cab, the fireman was watching the water gauge, "we seem to be low on water, we should've filled up at the water collum."

"Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it now," said the Driver, "we're due to leave soon and we can't keep the passengers waiting." He checked the water gauge himself, "I think we might have enough water to get to the big station."

The fireman wasn't so sure, "there are hills on this line and that will use alot of water," he thought to himself.

He was going to say that to the Driver, but he never got the chance as the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Oliver sounded his whistle, then puffed proudly out of the station, "look at me go! Look at me go!" he boasted.

"He's heading for trouble for sure," muttered Bert the Small Engine quietly to himself.

The fireman was thinking the same thing and he had every right too. When a steam engine climbs up a hill, they use alot of water to help produce the steam they need to keep going. Usually, engines have to go to the water collum to take on water before heading out, but since Oliver had been determined to prove himself a useful engine to Adams, he didn't bother to get water and soon he was going to regret his choice.

He soon reached the hill where he had rescued Dan during that snowstorm. He puffed and snorted up the hill, then he began to feel thirsty and noticed his steam preasure dropping, "I need a drink please!" he called to the Driver.

"Sorry Oliver, but you won't be getting a drink right now."

"Why not?"

"You're all out of water."

"Oh no," groaned Oliver. It was like a lightbulb went off in his head, he had suddenly remembered what he had forgotten to do. Oliver struggled on as best as he could, but soon came to a hault, halfway up the hill.

"Well that's that," groaned the fireman, "we'll need help to get over the hill now."

He got out his mobile phone and called the stationmaster, "Duck's on his way with a ballast train," he said on the other end of the phone, "just flag him down and get him to push you to the big station."

The fireman ran to inform the guard, who got out his red flag. He waved it back and forth as Duck reached the hill, "cor blimey, what's happened this time?" he asked.

"Oliver's run out water, mostly due to impatience," he eyed Oliver and his Driver firmly, "can you get us to the big station please?"

"We'll try our best," said Duck's Driver, but he was worried.

He had every right to worry. Duck had a very long ballast train and added with the weight of an engine with no water and two full auto coaches, it might prove to be too much for Duck. Still, they decided to try. The fireman placed plenty of sand on the rails, then Duck moved forwards and buffered up behind Dulice.

Then, he started to push and pull as hard as ever he could, but it did no good.

Duck's wheels spun furiously, but no matter how hard he tried, he just could not move the train alone.

"Bother," he panted after a while.

Duck's Driver eased in the brakes and Duck stopped, allowing him a chance to catch his breath. Oliver's fireman once again got out his mobile phone and called the stationmaster, "Duck wasn't able to push up the hill and now both trains are stuck. Are there any other engines that can help?"

"Just one," came the reply, "I'll send him right away."

The passengers in Isabel and Dulice were becoming very impatient and restless. The two crews and the two guards tried their best to calm them down and assured them that they would be leaving soon.

"Another back engine in on his way..." said Oliver's Driver, but was cut off by the sound of a whistle, "right about now," he finished.

Right away, Oliver knew that whistle belonged to the one engine he did not want to see, "it's that lazy South Western engine," he grumbled, "they'll probably have to send Donald and Douglas to save us afterwords."

It was indeed Adams, he came up behind the trains light engine and ready to help. His fireman coupled him up while the Driver placed plenty of sand on the rails, "it's not going to be like what you do on the Bluebell Railway Adams, but I know you'll do your best," said his Driver.

"I'll try my best sir," said Adams with determination.

When all was ready, Adams whistled out to Duck, who responded with a 'Peep! Peep!' of his whistle, then the two engines dug their wheels into the sand and gave a great heave. At first, nothing happened. Oliver smirked and was about to say, 'I told you so', but then he noticed that they were moving. Adams was working as hard as he could, dark clouds of smoke and steam rose high into the air and his cheeks were going as red as Mike's paint, but he didn't give up.

"I don't believe it," gasped Oliver.

Behind Dulice, Duck was helping too and with Adams pushing and shoving at the back of the train, the long strange train made it to the top of the hill and rolled down the other side safely.

The Fat Controller was pacing the platform at the big station. He had heard that two trains had been delayed on the Little Western and now he was getting anxious. After a while, he decided to phone for Donald and Douglas, but he had no need to do that as the sound of two whistles could be heard, "here they come!" shouted one of the passengers on the platform.

The rest of the passengers and several engines, all cheered as the two trains made it into the big station. Oliver rolled in first with his coaches, then Duck came in with his goods train and finally, Adams puffed in, tired, but very proud.

"There are you lads, we've made it," he panted.

"Thank you Adams," Duck called, "that was amazing back there."

"Well I wouldn't call it amazing," he called back, "I just did what any engine would've done."

Oliver didn't thank Adams, but he didn't say a word aganist him either. He was thinking back on the lazy engine he had previously met and then to Adams' rescuing both him and Duck.

Soon Oliver was given some more water and for the rest of the day, he had no more trouble with his work, but he still remained silent. He was starting to think that maybe he had been wrong.

Later that night, Oliver backed into the Little Western sheds and was parked beside Adams. He then spoke calmly and kindly to him, "thank you for helping us back on the hill Adams."

"Think nothing of it my lad," Adams smiled.

"Guess I was wrong about you after all, it's just that I had a bad experience dealing with one of your class before."

"Ah yes that engine. Duck told me about what happened and I can assure you, we're not all lazy engines. In fact, truth be told, we bring those lazy engines down a few pegs and teach them to be really useful engines."

"Yes I can see that now," Oliver said unhappily, "I was wrong about you and I hope you can forgive me for my earlier behaviour."

"Of course I forgive you Oliver," Adams smiled, "and I hope we can forget about what happened before and become friends."

"You know Adams, I would like that very much," Oliver smiled for the first time in a long time.

For the rest of the night, Oliver and Adams talked none stop about their old lines and about how they managed to escape being cut up by the gas axe. All too soon though, morning came and it was time for Adams to leave Sodor.

All the engines who could, came to see him off at the Big Station. As per usual, Donald and Douglas sang out 'Auld Lang Syne' and the others all joined in, then the Fat Controller gave off a speech saying how proud he was of Adams, "I hope you will continue to show off how useful and reliable you are for many years to come," he concluded.

"Oh don't worry sir, I will," Adams smiled.

Then to a chours of cheers, whistles and air horns, Adams puffed out of the big station. "Come back to visit again someday," called a voice, "you'll always have a place on Sodor and the Little Western!"

"Thank you Oliver!" he called back and then shouted, "long live the Western Engines!" This resulted in more cheers, horns and whistles, the loudest belonging to Oliver, who felt very proud to be friends with Adams, the Really Useful South Western Engine.

_**The End!**_


	18. No 59 The Bluebell Railway Engines

_**The Bluebell Railway Engines**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

Dear Friends,

_In March of 2013, the Bluebell Railway finally reached it's main terminus, East Grinstead Station. It's been a long project and the railway staff and engines are very proud of this. Although some surprises came up during the construction, the grand opening was a great success. These stories will tell you of what happened._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-A Stinky Situation

-The Missing Rails

-Worth the Wait

-The Bluebell Pioneer

_**A Stinky Situation**_

At Shefield Park, the Bluebell Engines were waiting the arrival of Adams and his railtour train. Many of the engines that had not been in operation for a long time had been pulled out by other engines. "It'll be nice to see Adams again," smiled Bluebell.

"Shh!" whispered Fenchurch, one of Stepney's brothers, "management still doesn't know about the name we gave him."

"Sorry," she whispered.

A whistle sounded loud and long as it came closer, "here he comes," Stepney cried. Right on cue, many of the engines whistled or honked, in the case of the diesels, while everyone else cheered. Then, tired but with a smile on his face, Adams pulled into the station with four boogie wheeled coaches.

"Welcome home No 488," said the manager, "we've all heard of what you did on Sodor and we're proud of you."

"Thank you sir and everyone, it feels good to be home."

"You must have lots of interesting stories to tell," said Primrose, "can you tell us some of those stories."

"Maybe later Primrose," said the manager. "Meanwhile, a special has been arranged and while I know he just came home, I would like him to take the train with Baxter." He turned to face Adams, "unless you just want to rest."

"I'll rest later sir," said Adams kindly, "I've never let passengers down before and I'm not going to start now."

"Excellent and I know the visitors will be pleased to see you."

Adams was uncoupled from his railtour coaches, then went to Captain Baxter's waiting passenger train. "You're an example to us all 488," said Layla, who was No 80151.

Adams whistled and disappeared out of everyone's view.

Since the station was full, the passenger train was waiting in the yards. Captain Baxter was grumbling, "knowing that engine, the pride of going to Sodor will have gone to his funnel."

"Nonsence," said his Driver, "488 is not like that. He would never boast about it like a certain engine I know."

"Pah!" sniffed Captain Baxter.

He snorted when Adams arrived. Adams payed no attention to them and focused on the journey ahead. While passengers boarded the train, a volunteer told him and his crew about the progress of the line.

"You remember how we were in a bit of a fight with the rubbish dump?"

"We do indeed," said Adams' Driver, "it had slowed our progress down quite a bit."

"Well we won the fight and now we can go right threw it."

Just then, the guard's whistle blew. The volunteer stepped back and waved as the train rolled past. The train puffed along the smooth tracks, whistled through a tunnel, rumble over a stone viaduct and soon reached the next station. This was the end of the line for the passenger train until the railway reached the East Grinstead station.

During their stop there, the visitors came out to take photographs of Adams and they said they were happy to see him back. But while they were focusing on Adams, they didn't notice two small animals climb into the coaches and fall asleep under one of the seats.

Time passed and soon, it was time to go.

"Hurry up! Hurry up!" grumbled Captain Baxter, "let's go already."

"All in good time Baxter," Adams called out, "we'll leave when everyone is ready."

At last, they were ready. The guard blew his whistle and the two engines started off once more.

One of the passengers was enjoying the ride so much that she often dozed off. She lowered her hand over the seat rest and that's when she noticed, "there's something furry under my seat," she thought to herself. She got up from her seat and looked under it.

"Ma'am, what are you doing?" asked the guard.

"Don't make any sudden movements," she whispered nervously, "There are two skunks under my seat."

Catiously, the guard looked and saw that there were two skunks.

At first, they tried to keep calm and not make a sudden move, but then another passenger noticed them.

"Skunks!"

Screams erupted as passengers tried to stay away from the animals. Captain Baxter was the first to hear the screams, "what is going on in there?"

The screams continued for a few minutes before the train stopped. The crews then went into the coach and discovered what was going on.

"Stay calm everyone!" called the Driver, "Don't scare them or they'll spray."

One passenger didn't listen and charged towards the exit. One of the skunks got scared and sprayed right into the Driver's face.

"Don't rub your eyes!" cried Adams' driver, "that's the worst thing you can do. Just wash them out with water." Luckily the fireman had a full water bottle and gave it up to help the Driver.

"Now we'll have to catch them," said the fireman, "we need a couple of blankets."

"There should be some at the front," called the Guard.

He was right. They were in a box under the first seat. The crew got them out and went to get the skunks. The Driver got the first skunk with ease.

"Go, go, go! I got it!"

The passengers and guard ran past and out into the cold winter night. The second skunk was harder to get. When the fireman thought he had it, it slipped away. Finally though, he caught it.

"Slippery little sneak," he groaned.

Adams' crew brought the skunks out of the coach and after scolding the passenger who ran out first, they went to check to see if Baxter's Driver was okay, "I'm okay now," he said, "but my eyes still sting a little."

Just then, two people arrived, "This is a new record for them," one said, "I can't believe they escaped from us again and got out this far."

"Those are your skunks?" asked Captain Baxter's fireman.

"Yes they are," the other person answered. "They are our pets, but they always seem to escape. I hope they didn't cause too much trouble."

"Uh, nope they didn't," no one decided to tell the owners.

They apologized for the delay and left with the skunks. The passengers reboarded and they set off for Shefield Park once more.

**Author's Note:**

This story was inspired by an event where two animal relocation specialists were called to deal with two skunks. One got sprayed in the face and while they were hard to catch, the skunks were soon caught and taken to a scantuary. The first specialist washed his eyes out and was okay afterwords.

_**The Missing Rails**_

Following the 'welcome home' run, Adams was shunted into a big engine shed with the other non-operational engines. Management had decided to keep him in there until such a time when they could overhaul him. He didn't mind though, he was eager to talk with his friends.

"So what have I missed since I left for Sodor?" he asked.

"Well we had many special events," said Fenchurch. "From weddings to visitors from other railways. Then there was the day we finally made a deal with the rubbish dump."

"Oh yes we heard about that, but how did you do that?"

"Well it wasn't easy and we had some problems," said Blackmoor Vale, one of the Railway's bulleid Pacifics. "Especially with some employees trying to sabotage our plans."

And this is the story Blackmoor Vale told.

No 13236, other known by many as Andrew, had been on loaned to the Bluebell Railway to help with the extension. One cold winter's day, he was taking volunteers and supplies to the end of the line. As they got closer, a volunteer noticed they were getting _too_ close to the end of the line.

"Stop! Stop!" cried the foreman.

Andrew's Driver heard the shouting and quickly applied the brakes. Andrew skidded along the rails and stopped with mere inches to spare in front of the coach.

"What's up?" asked the Driver.

"You were close to knocking us off the rails," said one of the volunteers.

"What? Are you serious?" He climbed down from the cab and went with the volunteers to the front of the train. When they looked, they found that some of the layed down rails were gone. "Is this someone's idea of a joke, cause if it is, then I'm not laughing."

"It's not a joke," said one of the volunteers. "We had layed down lots of rails yesterday and now they had been stolen."

"Who would want to steal rails?" Andrew asked.

"We don't know," answered his Driver, "but one thing's for sure, they are not going to get away with this."

They phoned the Bluebell's Controller and after telling him everything, he phoned the police. They went down to the site at once, but they couldn't find any leads. Worst still, as the days went by, more and more equipment started to disappear. One day they were there, the next they were gone.

"Thieves, they are stupid people," grumbled Captain Baxter one night. "they waste our time and theirs by stealing. It's going to slow our extension down badly. Oh if I ever see those little..."

"We all want to have a little talk with those thieves," interupted Kim, otherwise known as Southern No 1638, "just about everyone else does. But those guys have been very good at hiding and not leaving a single clue."

"All we can do is to keep an eye out for those thieves," advised Stepney.

The engines agreed and they did keep an eye out for those thieves. Despite their best efforts, even more rails and equipment went missing.

"If this keeps up, we'll never reach East Grinstead," groaned Andrew.

"Oh don't worry boy, we will get there," his Driver said calmly, "it might take a while, but we'll get there."

"I really hope you're right."

The volunteers spent that day laying down more railroad ties and rails and soon, they were back to where they left off the day before. Feeling proud, they walked over to their coach, not noticing a figure coming out of the darkness.

"Railey, please turn on the lights," Andrew whispered to his Driver.

The Driver flicked on the lights, revealing three people before them. They were trying to steal the newly layed rails. They turned and ran, but didn't get far before being caught by the volunteers.

"Let us go!" one shouted angerily.

"Not until you see the manager," said one of the volunteers.

The thieves were lead to the work's coach, then Andrew rattled back to Shefield Park. When they arrived, the manager thanked Andrew and the men, then he spoke with the thieves.

"Why were you stealing from our railway?"

"We're not going to tell you," said one of them. "we have our reasons for doing what we did."

"Yeah," said another one. "Like how we were trying to sabotage your plans and make a little money on the side."

"Idiot! You blurted out everything!" shouted the leader of the group.

All eyes fell towards him firmly. "Well since you now know, we did it to prevent you from ruining our dump. Plus we didn't want to see those silly trains anywhere near us. We hate them so much."

"Well don't worry, you won't be seeing any trains for a while," said the Controller. "Cause we're turning you over to the police."

"With no way of escaping, the men were easily turned over to the police and the theft of the rails and equipment finally stopped," said Blackmoor Vale as the story drew to a close.

"Management was able to make a deal with the people of the dump," added Devon, a USA Dock tank engine, "and now our line goes right threw the dump."

"That's good to hear," smiled Adams.

"And now, with our path set threw the rubbish dump, the push to East Grinstead can continue," said Layla. "Who knows, we might just make it there sometime this year."

How right Layla was going to be, but that will have to wait for the next story.

_**Worth the Wait**_

"_We'll get there someday. _Poh! I've heard it one time too many times and we never do get there!" Captain Baxter was grumbling to the other engines after Andrew and the volunteers had left. "False promises that's all it ever is."

"No it's not," snapped Bluebell crossly. "Ever since we opened back in 1960, the volunteers have made great progress to where our line is now. Think about it, we got a viaduct, a tunnel and we now have a path threw the rubbish dump. If that's not progress, then I don't know what you think it is."

"Oh don't bother with him," said Kim. "You know what Baxter is like, he'll complain about anything."

Captain Baxter gave her a dirty look.

"We'll never get there," he said only to himself.

Far up the line, the volunteers were working hard into laying down the new tracks. All the while, Andrew was talking to his Driver, "it's hard to believe that after all this time, we're getting close to the end of the line," he sighed. "I was looking forward to this, but that just reminds me that I'll have to leave when it's all done."

"I know boy, I don't want to leave either, but I'm sure we'll return someday."

"I guess so."

"Besides, you should look on the bright side of things, the Bluebell's engines will be able to run over the lines we helped to lay down, so in a way, we will be a permanent part of the railway."

Andrew smiled, his Driver was right.

Days went by and the work continued as normal. The volunteers went with great hope, but came home tired and worn out.

"Are we there yet?" Captain Baxter wasn't helping by always asking that question. He firmly believed that they would never reach East Grinstead.

One afternoon, one volunteer stopped working to speak with the manager.

"That Captain Baxter is making us feel bad, we work hard, yet he makes us feel like we haven't done anything. It almost makes me want to give up."

The manager showed a kind smile, "don't stop my boy, you're all doing a great job and everyone is happy with the work you've been doing."

"Except that one engine."

"Oh don't worry about him, I will deal with him myself."

And he did too that night when he came to speak with the engines.

"Those volunteers have been working really hard and yet, you've been putting them down. I will not accept that kind of attitude from you. Now, you behave yourself or you'll be locked up in the workshops and I'll have 263 do your work."

Captain Baxter was ashamed, "I'm sorry sir, I'll be good."

"I hope you will." Then he addressed all the other engines, "I have been told that the line will soon be finished and on the day of the offical opening of East Grinstead, we're going to run a special train for all of our guests. Stepney and Bluebell, you were the first two engines on our line, so I want you to take the train on that day."

"Yes sir," said Stepney. "But there is a problem sir. I've been working so much over the years that I can't pull as much as I used to."

"Oh yes, I forgot about that," the manager looked down thoughtfully. "In that case, we'll need to have another engine help with that train."

"What about me sir?" asked Captain Baxter hopefully.

The manager stared at him firmly, "with the way you've been acting, I wouldn't dream of it. Besides, you're not strong enough for the train." He turned to Birch Groove, "you can help them Birch."

"Oh thank you sir, I'd be happy to help."

"Excellent," smiled the manager. He then left, leaving Captain Baxter in silence.

"This is the first time in a long time that he's been silent," Kim whispered to 263, who was also named Benjamin by the engines. Benjamin chuckled in agreement.

Several days later, there came a loud commotion coming to the yards. The engines and staff were wondering what was going on. They soon found out as Andrew rattled into the yards, honking his horn loud and long, while the volunteers were cheering.

"What's all this?" asked Kim.

"I think I know," smiled Stepney. "Andrew, did we make it?"

"We sure did," cheered Andrew. "We finished the last section of line and I got to see East Grinstead, it's a beautiful station."

This was met by a chrous of cheers and whistles.

"What is going on out there?" asked Layla.

Word soon spread into the sheds and soon, the engines on display were cheering too. There was so much cheering that the noise spread to the nearby town.

The manager had to use Birch Groove's whistle to silence everyone.

"Well I must say that I am impressed, a month ago, we only had a hundred miles to go and now, we've made it. Well done to all of you."

A round of appaluse went up, then there was silence.

"I guess all that's left now is to annouce our special." He turned to the engines. "Stepney, Birch Groove and Bluebell, please go to the workshops and get your new coats of paint."

"Yes sir," said the engines in unison. But before they did that, the cheering resummed and the manager joined in, being the loudest of anyone there."

_**The Bluebell Pioneer**_

When the celebrations were done, the three tank engines were taken to the workshops for their inspections and new coats of paint. They were quite pleased about this, but not Captain Baxter. He was grumbling about not being able to pull the train.

"Well if you hadn't been so rude, you would've been given a chance," Kim said to him. "But no, you just had to go and open your mouth."

"Wouldn't be the first time," chuckled Baxter's Driver.

"Oh shut up you!" snapped Baxter, but secretly, he was feeling bad.

As the days passed, the weather became much colder. Thankfully though, there was no snow.

"What if we get a blizzard on the day of the special train?" Bluebell asked one day. "What will happen then?"

"My guess is that the manager would rearrange for the train to run on another day," said one of the workers. "I don't think he would run you engines in a blizzard."

"But if we do on that day and the water in our tanks freeze?"

"The volunteers will do their best to get the water flowing again," answered Birch Groove.

Stepney showed a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Bluebell, I'm sure that we'll have a smooth run on the day of the Pioneer special. We'll be fine."

"I hope so," she sighed quietly.

At last, the big day arrived. Visitors came by the dozens to the railway, some went to Shefield Park while others went to the main terminus at East Grinstead. The coaches were all ready to go, their windows had been washed and given new coats of paint. The engines looked grand too in their new paintjobs.

"Please sir," pleaded Captain Baxter to the manager. "May I help to pull this train? I've learned my lesson."

"I'm sorry Baxter, but you will not be pulling the train," he said. "Arrangements are already set and besides, I don't know if you really have learned your lesson."

"But sir..."

"Oh give it a rest Baxter," snapped Kim. "You brought it upon yourself."

Baxter sulked and admitted defeat.

A little later, the train pulled into East Grinstead station. They were amazed by it and by the large number of people waiting there.

"I hope we can fit them all in," muttered Bluebell to herself.

The visitors took lots of photographs and videos of the event. They even watched as Birch Groove went to get water, then get coupled back up to the train. Many others came to see Stepney and his new headboard, which read 'The Pioneer'.

"Hullo Stepney, it's been a while," said a well known voice.

A man came threw the crowd. Stepney showed a big smile, for it was the second Fat Controller, who had been in charge of the North Western Railway during his first visit all those years ago.

"Hello sir, it's good to see you again. Still love steam huh?"

"Indeed I do Stepney. Like my father and my son, we still love steam."

The Fat Controller II was then introduced to Bluebell, and they had a lovely chat until it was time to go.

"Do your best Stepney," the Fat Controller II winked.

"Yes sir."

It wasn't long before the passengers were on board. Snow was falling lightly, but that wasn't going to bother the engines. The guard's whistle blew and the train pulled slowly out of the station.

"Now let's show them of what we can," said Stepney.

"We're ready when you are Stepney," said Bluebell.

The engines picked up speed and rattled along as fast as they were allowed to go. They were pleased with the work that had been done, "we must tell Andrew and the volunteers how wonderful the line is," Birch Groove called out to the other engines.

The journey took them threw the rubbish dump, over the viaduct and threw the tunnel, whistling as they passed the whistle boards. It was a wonderful run and no one wanted it to end, but it did as they pulled back into Shefield Park.

"Well done you lot," said the Fat Controller II, "that was a splendid run."

The manager agreed, then spoke to all the visitors.

"I would like to thank you all for coming today as we celebrate the completion of our line from Shefield Park to East Grinstead. It had taken us over fifty years, but now with the work complete, we will be running services over to the entire line soon. I guess now, all that's left to do is to give three cheers to all the volunteers, engines and staff for all the hard work they have done."

"Hip! Hip! Hooray!" the noise nearly raised the roof off the station building.

"So, now what?" asked Bluebell.

"I don't know Bluebell," answered Stepney. "But I'm sure we'll find out in the future, cause if we can make it to East Grinstead, then anything is possible."

Both Bluebell and Birch Groove happily agreed.

_**The End!**_


	19. No 60 Sudrian Railway Mishaps

_**Sudrian Railway Mishaps**_

_**Written by: ThomasZoey3000**_

_**Special Thanks to Adam155 for the Ideas**_

Dear Friends,

_Recently, I heard that the three big engines had been locked in their sheds following a few mishaps. When I heard this, I went to see them and they told me it was the fault of Thomas, Percy and Oliver. From what Sir Topham Hatt told me, it was actually the fault of the three big engines and he did have a talk with the tank engines about their involvements as well. What did happen? Well I can't tell you right now, you'll have to read the book to find out._

The Author

**Stories Included:**

-Gordon Springs a Leak

-A Bumpin' Good Time

-Dirty Objects Again

-Do It Yourself!

_**Gordon Springs a Leak**_

_**Based on the Season 17 Episode 'Gordon Runs Dry'**_

Gordon used to pull the express, but since there weren't any coal or water facilities on the Other Railway, he had been given the job of the stopping passenger trains, or the local as it's often called. He missed pulling the express, but he didn't mind taking the Local. Some of the engines though tease him about it.

"How the mighty have fallen," Thomas teased one day at the junction. "Once the pride of the Express, now he's just a common engine."

This made Gordon cross, "Common engine? I'm still one of the finest engines of the Fat Controller's Railway, and don't you forget about that little Thomas!"

"Sez you," chuckled Thomas. "A fine engine doesn't slip outside a station or fall into a ditch." Gordon seethed crossly over this. "I on the other hand haven't had many misadventures."

"Oh really?" Gordon raised an eyebrow when he heard this, "Says the engine who slid into the water and fell down a mine."

At that moment, the guard's whistle blew and Gordon stormed away.

"Silly tank engine," he muttered, not hearing Thomas' rants from the Junction.

Later on, Gordon was resting in a siding before taking the return train home. His crew were doing some inspections on their engine, "all ship shape and ready to go," they said at last.

Gordon simmered happily, but not for long. A lorry was coming into the yards with barrels full of oil, but he was coming in too fast. He swirved at the last minute and a barrel flew off the trailer, hitting Gordon hard on the right side of the boiler.

"Ouch!" Gordon cried. "That hurt!"

The lorry driver came over at once, "sorry about that, the pedal got stuck and I couldn't stop the lorry in time."

He personally checked Gordon over, but couldn't find any serious damage, apart from a small dent.

"Come on Gordon, let's get those coaches," said his Driver.

Gordon was soon coupled up to the coaches and once the passengers were on board, he steamed proudly out of the station.

But no sooner was he away from the station then he began to feel thirsty. The Driver turned a tap and let water into the boiler, but discovered there was very little water left in the tender.

"We'll have to fill up at the next station," he said to the fireman.

They did so and continued on, but soon they discovered that Gordon was running low on water again.

"I can't keep stopping for water," Gordon thought to himself.

To get his mind off needing water, he started naming station, "let's see...Tidmouth, Knapford Junction, Wellsworth, Crovan's Gate, Barrow, Vicarstown, water...ugh!" he groaned. Just like that, the thought came back to him.

Luckily, they had to stop at the next station, so Gordon's crew could fill up the tender. They uncoupled him and took him to the water tower.

"It is strange," said the fireman. "We filled up not too long ago, yet the tender was nearly empty. Could you check the underside of the tender and see if it's leaking?"

"Sure thing Tim," called the Driver.

He checked the tender all over, then spoke to the fireman, "No leaks there! But if that's not where the water is escaping, then where is it going?"

But there was no time to figure that out as they were running late. Gordon was taken back to the train, then departed once the guard's whistle had blown.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" Gordon puffed to the coaches.

HONK! HONK! Gordon looked and saw that he was being overtaken by Pip and Emma. "You're running late today Gordon," said Pip, who was in the back today. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes everything is fine," he huffed. "I'll make up the time soon enough, you'll see."

But that was easier said than done. No sooner had Pip and Emma disappeared into the distance then Gordon began to feel thirsty. His crew gave him more water from the tender, but no sooner had they done that then Gordon said he was _still_ thirsty.

"He must have a leak somewhere, this isn't normal for a steam engine."

"Indeed not Tim," agreed the driver. "Maybe we should get another engine to take over 'The Local' and take Gordon to the works."

"Absolutely not!" cried Gordon. "I would never hear the end of it from the other engines, especially little Thomas. I can finish this run myself!"

His crew argued with him, but it was no use, Gordon wanted to finish the journey, so they continued on. At the next station, they picked up more passengers, but no water. Gordon insisted he had enough, so they left. This was going to be a big mistake.

Gordon tried his best, but soon found that he was losing steam.

"I must have enough water! I must!" he groaned loudly.

In the end, to avoid damaging Gordon, the crew stopped him and dropped the fire. While the Driver phoned for help, the fireman inspected Gordon himself. He soon found the problem.

"He's got a hole on the side of his boiler," he explained to the Driver. "When that barrel hit him, it made a small hole, which was letting all the water from the tender escape on his side. We should've arranged for another engine to take the train, maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess. But no, we continued on and it's all because of your foolish pride Gordon."

A few minutes later, LoBo came into view, light engine.

"Hullo Gordon, I heard that you sprang a leak. How did this happen?"

"I rather not talk about it," he muttered under his breath.

"Very well Gordon, I won't ask." Being true to his word, LoBo remained quiet as he was coupled up, then towed the foolish blue engine to the works. Gordon hoped that no one would find out about this, but it really wasn't his day. At Knapford Junction, they found Thomas waiting. He had already heard about the leak and found it rather funny.

"Forgot to fill your tender Gordon? I am surprised, a steam engine can't work without water you know."

Gordon growled, but his words were drowned out as LoBo started away again. Needless to say, Gordon won't be making that mistake again.

_**A Bumpin' Good Time**_

_**Based on the Season 8 Episode 'Henry & the Wishing Tree'**_

The Fat Controller scolded Gordon badly for his actions and said he was to stay in the sheds till he could be trusted again. Henry took over the Local, while James and Bear took care of his regular duties.

"Fancy that Gordon, running with a leak in his boiler and then blaming Thomas for it," he chuckled.

"It's not funny Henry," Duck said firmly. "Gordon could've seriously hurt himself or worse if his crew hadn't decided to stop him."

"Well it's his fault this happened and while he is shut up, I get to pull his trains," he smirked.

The guard blew his whistle and Henry puffed proudly away, still chrotling over Gordon's incident. He had a good run and made good timing, but Henry wasn't enterily happy, especially when he saw Pip and Emma roll by.

"Oh how I would love to pull the express again," he thought to himself. "I would enjoy flying down the line with the express carriages."

He dreamed about it all day and talked about it all night long. This annoyed the other engines greatly.

"Well Henry, if you really want to pull the express, why don't you make that wish of yours near the wishing tree," suggested Oliver. "I hear that when someone makes a wish there, it comes true."

Oliver was only saying that to get Henry to stop talking, but Henry believed him.

"I'll make my wish when I stop at the forest station tomorrow,"he thought to himself.

The next morning, he took 'the Local' and stopped at the station near the forest. Nearby stood the wishing tree. Children have been going there for many years and making wishes, hoping they would come true. It was just a story someone made up a long time ago, but there is still believe that it was real.

Henry closed his eyes and whispered; "I wish I could take the express instead of Pip and Emma."

The guard's whistle sounded and Henry steamed away. At the next station, he got a shock. There was BoCo hauling the HST behind him. Both of the sisters were looking very sick.

"Blimey," gasped Henry's fireman. "I wonder what happened to them."

They found out later when they reached Barrow at the end of the line. The stationmaster was waiting for them with a message from the Fat Controller."

"Both Pip and Emma have failed and have been sent to the works to be repaired. Since there are no other engines available, the Fat Controller wants you to take the express once you return with the Local." Then he turned and walked away.

"Well, what are the odds of that? Both diesels failed, that doesn't happen very often," said the fireman.

"Indeed not," agreed the Driver.

Henry felt sorry for Pip and Emma, but he was excited to be pulling the express again.

When he returned, he found the express coaches all waiting for him. Bear took the Local while Henry backed down onto the coaches.

"Don't bump those coaches, they don't like it!" Oliver teased from another platform.

Henry snorted at Oliver, but he should've been paying attention to what he was doing. He reversed onto the coaches much too fast and gave them a big bump. The poor coaches rolled along the line until they bashed right into the buffers with a loud bang!

"Ow! That hurt!" cried the coaches.

Luckily, none of the passengers were boarding, but the guard was cross.

"What do you think you're playing at boy-o?" he shouted at Henry. "You could've hurt someone with that silly stunt you pulled."

Oliver chuckled and puffed away to collect empty ballast trucks.

The Driver tried to calm Henry down, "if you pull the train roughly, you could very well damage something. Remember when you set the sleepers alight?"

Henry did remember and didn't want that to happen again.

Soon the time came for them to leave. The guard blew his whistle, the Driver opened the regulator and Henry puffed out of the station. But he pulled out too quickly and as a result of it, he bumped the coaches again.

"Stop bumping us! Stop bumping us!" cried the coaches.

But Henry heard nothing and puffed on, determined to show Oliver up. "I'll show him how well I am at pulling the express, maybe then he'll treat me with respect."

He was soon bucketing along on the main line, pretending to be like Gordon.

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!" he puffed proudly.

The passengers in the coaches were having a horrible ride. They were bucked and bounced about and a few nearly had suitcases fall on top of them. They were not happy. Henry didn't know this, he merely picked up passengers at Wellsworth and charged towards Gordon's hill.

"Slow it down boy!" cried his Driver. "The hill is very steep on the other side."

Henry didn't hear, he forged on without a banker and charged quickly down the other side. Too quickly by all measures. Many passengers charged forward and hit the seats in front of them. Suddenly, the brakes came on and the train stopped at the bottom of the hill.

"This isn't a station stop, so why have we stopped?"

Henry soon found out why as a familar person came up with a damaged hat on top of his head.

"Henry, what are you doing?" boomed the Fat Controller. "We're all being bounced about like peas in a frying pan and we don't like it! I thought you would be able to pull this train, but it seems that I was wrong." Henry gulped as the Fat Controller said; "I'll have BoCo take over the train and you will go back to the sheds till you have learned your lesson."

"Yes sir," sighed Hrenry. "So much for my wish."

"What wish?" the Fat Controller asked with a raised eyebrow. Henry sighed again and told him about his wish. "That's an old tale parents tell their children, it's not real!"

Henry gasped, but then growled, "just wait till I see that Oliver!"

The Fat Controller spun round, "What was that Henry?"

"Uh nothing sir, nothing at all," he said hastily.

The fireman uncoupled him and the Driver drove him down the line to get him out of the way. BoCo soon arrived and took the express away. Once the express was gone, Henry puffed away back to the sheds without a single word.

_**Dirty Objects Again**_

_**Based on the Season 7 Episode "James and the Queen of Sodor"**_

With Gordon and Henry shut up in the sheds for their mishaps, the Fat Controller gave the job of taking the Local to James. James was thrilled and promised he would make the Fat Controller proud. For a while after that, he did just that. He was always on time, gave the passengers a smooth ride and was always cheerful at every station he went to.

I'm sorry to say that the importance of this job went straight to his funnel, and _he_ became rather boastful.

"Only the most important engines can pull this train," he said to Toby and Percy at the junction. "You can't lose your focus on this job, otherwise you'll have mishaps like Gordon and Henry did."

Just then, the Stationmaster came out to speak with James and his crew.

"I just recieved a message from the Fat Controller, when you reach Barrow, an extra coach will be added onto your train. Something about visitors coming from London I believe."

James was thrilled when he heard this.

"You see? Only the most important engines get jobs like this, unlike Gordon and Henry, or you two."

He chortled over his own wit and puffed out of the station. Toby took no notice of this, but Percy did, he didn't like being teased, especially by the big engines.

Later on, Percy was still shunting at the junction when James came by with a special coach on the end of his train.

"Just look at me Percy, important engine coming through!"

"Show off!" Percy shouted. James heard nothing and continued on threw the station. It was because he had been instructed to go to the big station with no delays, but Percy thought James insulted him again. Percy was furious and thought how he could pay James out.

His chance would soon come.

He took a load down to Tidmouth where he found the Fat Controller looking around.

"Hullo sir," called Percy's Driver. "What brings you to the yards?"

"I'm looking for an engine to collect a rather big load," he answered. "An old leaky barge has to be taken to the smelter's yard to be broken up. But I can't find any engines strong enough around here, and I rather not send Gordon and Henry right now."

Then Percy saw James coming up to the nearby water tower, this gave him an idea.

"Is this an important job sir?" Percy asked, which got James' attention.

"It is indeed Percy, but you're too busy for this kind of work. I need a strong engine for the job."

"Look no further sir, I'm your engine!" shouted James.

"Oh well that's good to hear James," said the Fat Controller in surprise. "I'll ask Douglas to take the local and you can go to the docks to collect your important load."

When his tender had been filled to the top, James puffed grandly away. Percy smirked and chuckled, but very quietly to himself.

At the docks, James' smile turned into a frown when he saw what his 'important job' was.

"Am I suppose to take that rusty old wreck?" he asked in disgust.

"Yes you are," said the dock manager. "We can't keep this thing here all day, so you'll have to move it. Besides, I thought you told the Fat Controller that you would take it."

"I was tricked! I'm not taking it!"

James had a bit of an argument with the manager, that was until he said he would tell the Fat Controller about the argument.

"Oh alright, I'll do it," sighed James.

"Good engine, I knew you'd come around at some point."

The rusty old barge was sitting on a flatbed when James arrived. LoBo had shunted them and a brake van into place, but it still didn't improve James' attitude.

"Let's get this job over and done with," grumbled James.

The fireman coupled him up behind the barge's flatbed, then he set off. But a little too quickly for the Driver's liking.

"Take it easy James, we'll get there in time!" But James wasn't listening, he was thinking about what he'd say to Percy next time they met.

"I'll pay him out. I'll pay him out!"

He didn't notice a man waving a set of red flags cause some points had failed and he was going down the wrong line towards some buffers. The guard tried to warn James, but he still wasn't paying any attention. In the end, the guard jumped out for safety. James noticed this, his Driver slammed on the brakes, but it was to late.

CRASH!

James hit the buffers hard and derailed the brake van. During the impact, a rusty batch of metal broke off and dropped loads of slug on top of James.

"Yuck!" he groaned. "My beautiful paintwork is ruined."

"Never mind your paint James," said his Driver. "That slug had put out your fire, that's your day's work done."

BoCo soon arrived with the brakedown train and moved James out of the way. Then once the barge and brake van were back on the rails, he took them to the smelters, leaving James pouting over his ruined paintwork.

Wendell the Works Diesel soon came and took him to the works.

"Don't worry James, we'll have you cleaned out in no time."

It took a little longer than that and it was past Midnight by the time James returned to the sheds.

The Fat Controller was waiting there for him. What he said was short, but not sweet. James apologized for the incident, but he was still shut up in the sheds for his actions. James was not happy and said he would get back at Percy soon. Gordon and Henry said the same thing about Thomas and Oliver.

How will they do it? Well, you'll have to wait for the next story to find out.

_**Do It Yourself!**_

The next day, after all of the other engines had gone off to work, Gordon, Henry and James held an indignation meeting.

"It's disgraceful, I get shut up and Thomas doesn't even get scolded for the entire affair. Where is the justice in that?" Gordon fumed crossly.

"Oliver should get scolded for his actions too," added Henry.

"They were merely teasing you two," said James. "Percy though, I'd like to give him a piece of my mind for playing that trick on me." He shuddered just thinking about it. "It was disgusting."

"Those three are dispicable, they have no respect for us," grumbled Henry.

"Quite right," approved Gordon. "If they worked in our places, then maybe those three would learn some manners."

Henry and James stared, then they smirked. Gordon's suggestion had finally given them an idea on how to pay the tank engines out.

When their crews arrived, they refused to go. They tried again and again to get them fired up, but nothing seemed to work. When he heard about this, the Fat Controller went down to the sheds.

"I'm allowing you three to go back to work," he said. "So why aren't you going?"

"We're on strike!" grumbled Gordon.

"You punished us, yet Thomas, Percy and Oliver get away with what they did," added Henry.

"Give them our jobs, let them see what we do," James suggested. "Unless they learn, we will not move a single wheel out of this shed!" Henry and Gordon agreed with James.

The Fat Controller argued with them, but soon gave in.

"Very well then, if this is what you want, it will be arranged."

And with that, the Fat Controller left the sheds and so did the crews. The Fat Controller knew that it was their silly prides that had gotten them into trouble, but in order to restore order on the railway, he would need the help of the three tank engines.

That afternoon, he called them all to the big station.

"I heard you three teased Gordon, Henry and James, which lead to their mishaps."

"We were only teasing sir," peeped Percy. "We meant no harm."

"I know that, but sometimes it does go out of line. So in the future, can you please tone it down?"

All three tank engines promised they would.

"Now the reason I called you here is because they suggested that you do their work, it's suppose to teach you a lesson, so they say. I need these services to continue, so will you three help?"

"Of course we will sir," said Thomas.

"But what of our jobs sir?" Oliver asked. "We can't just leave them."

"It's all been arranged, Douglas will do your work Oliver and Michael will work in place of Thomas and Percy." Then he gave the three tank engine their jobs. "Good luck and be careful."

It didn't take long for the three engines to settle into their roles and they did a wonderful job every time. Not one of them had a single mishap. When evening came, they were finished and gathered in the shunting yards.

"That was fun and all, but I am tired," Thomas said to them. "Can you imagine doing it on a regular basis."

"I think I prefer my branch line work," said Oliver.

"But we can't leave these jobs until the big engines come out," Percy pointed out. "And I heard them say they won't come out until we apologize."

Thomas sighed, "then that's what we're going have to do."

They asked their Drivers to take them to the sheds, and they set off. All the engines were there, including the three big engines. They stared coldly at the three tank engines.

"Have you come to apologize?" Henry asked.

"You made us look like fools," added James. "So unless you have something to say, you're not welcome here."

The three tank engines took in a deep breath and said all in one voice, "We're sorry for causing your incidents."

The big engines smirked, but not for long as a familar person with a top hat came into the sheds.

"You three have nothing to be sorry for," said the Fat Controller. "Sure, your teasing might have gotten to them, but they were the ones who caused their own incidents."

"It was them!" snorted the big engines.

"Silence!" boomed the Fat Controller. "You three were to blame, not the tank engines. Gordon, you foolishly decided to continue on, even though you knew there was a problem. James, you caused your accident due to you being rough with the trucks. And then there's Henry, your attitude and ego is what got the better of you when you took the express."

"I already spoke with the tank engines and they promised to tone down their teasing."

"Indeed we have," agreed Percy, but was hushed by Oliver and Thomas.

"But you three shouldn't let their teasing get the better of you, otherwise it will result in injuries and damage."

The three big engines looked down to their buffers in a thoughtful manner.

"Well said sir," said LoBo. "I don't think anyone could've put it better themselves." And all the other engines agreed with him.

Then the Fat Controller turned to the three big engines, "if this happens again, I will replace you three and get more sensible engines to do your work."

"Oh no sir, we'll be good, we promise," they all said together.

"Good, I hope you keep true to your words."

After that day, things returned to normal. The tank engines went back to the branch lines and the big engines went back to doing their work. They still tease each other from time to time, but they know better than to let the words get to them, cause it could lead to serious trouble. It's something they don't want to think about.

_**The End!**_


End file.
